


Tsuresara REMAKE

by XenobladeWarrior1958



Series: Tsuresara Series [4]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-05-20 04:39:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 41
Words: 78,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5991952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XenobladeWarrior1958/pseuds/XenobladeWarrior1958
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lane's younger sister Moppet plugs her phone into the TV, she, Lane, and Alexia are transported to the world of Ninjago. Finding new powers, love, danger, and excitement, will the girls ever want to go back? Or will they even have the choice? KaiXOC and ZaneXOC REMAKE OF THE ORIGINAL FANFIC!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tsuresara](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5991298) by [XenobladeWarrior1958](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XenobladeWarrior1958/pseuds/XenobladeWarrior1958). 



> Ahem: This is a remake of the story Tsuresara, which many, many people liked. However, we (do0m (my fanfiction co-writer) and I) feel this was one of our weaker fics, after writing Then There Were None. So we have decided to rewrite the entire story!  
> Note: The basic storyline may be extended, characters will change, and the overall wording/progression will be different. If you would like to cling to the fluff of the original, go ahead. We will keep that one up too however, we are going to try to add a degree of realism, as well as kill the inherent evils of the Mary-Sue.

The sun was merciless; Alexia shielded her eyes from the heat, fanning herself. Even the short walk to her best friend’s house made her sweat. Especially since Alexia was wearing sleeves (though, thankfully, not long).

Wiping her forehead for what must have been the fifth time this minute, Alexia hurried to the door of Lane’s house. Basking in the shade for a few moments, Alexia opened the door, knowing she needed no invitation. “Lane! Mops!”

“Don’t call me that!” Moppet huffed, staring at her Nintendo screen.

“Tough love.” Alexia replied, rubbing Moppet’s head. “Where’s Lane?”

“In the kitchen.” Moppet licked her lips. “Do you think she’s making more... CAKE?”

Alexia rolled her eyes, chuckling. “We need to talk about your dietary plans, Moppet. Because I can tell you’ve already had three or more pieces of cake today.”

Lane poked her head around the doorway to the kitchen. “We need to talk about yours, Alexia Tyra Johnson! You’re too skinny! We’re in puberty!” She said with a scowl.

“Not everybody can eat like a bear and still maintain proper weight levels. That will forever be your talent.” Alexia pointed out.

“Excuses excuses.” Lane walked into the living room, wearing an apron covered in flour. Wiping her hands on the apron, she ruffled Alexia’s hair.

“I  _ told _ you, don’t do that.” Alexia muttered. “I hate having to redo ponytails.” She quickly untied her hair, combing it with her fingers before placing it back in its usual ponytail.

“Yep, that’s why it’s so much fun!” Lane insisted. A timer rang and Lane shot back into the kitchen. A moment later she presented a large cake. “White chocolate almond, anyone?”

“OHHHH! ME, ME!” Moppet squealed, running forward.

“She’s had enough sugar.” Alexia said. “Why don’t we just have a whipped cream fight?”

“Sorry, my parents said no more fights with whipped cream until we start paying for it.” Lane replied, apologetic.

“Damn it.” Alexia cursed, flopping onto the couch. “I’m officially bored. Doctor Who doesn’t return until Christmas, and everything fun is reserved for the school year.”

“Touché.” Lane admitted, putting the cake down and sitting down on a chair. She grabbed the remote, turning on the T.V.

“Can we play Legos? Pretty please?” Moppet begged.

“No.” Alexia and Lane chorused.

“We played that for a month.” Alexia groaned, lying on the couch upside-down.  “I can only be a Jamaican advisor for so long.”

“But you ALMOST got Lane to laugh! Try again, please?” Moppet insisted.

Sighing, Alexia morphed her voice. “’Eh, mon! Tryin’ to cut us a bad deal, mon?”

Moppet burst out laughing, while Lane was forced to cover her mouth to prevent the other two from seeing the corners of her mouth twitch. “She is! She is!” Moppet yelled, laughing.

“Quit it, both of you.” Lane scolded, though she used an amused tone.

“Well, that cured the boredom for about...” Alexia checked her watch. “Thirty seconds.”

“Ah well.” Lane murmured, sinking into the couch.

“I can provide entertainment!” Moppet put in.

“How? Can we throw the cake at you?” Alexia muttered.

“Hey! No wasting perfectly good cake!” Lane fired back.

“No, here!” Moppet took out her ancient, flip cell phone and began fiddling with wires.

“Yeah right.” Alexia whispered, staring at the ceiling.

Lane ignored both of them until she realized her sister was crossing several wires between her phone’s charger and the T.V. She paled when Moppet plugged the wire into the T.V. and started to plug the other end into her phone. “MOPPET, DON’T-”

It was too late. Moppet plugged in the wires, and there was a rush of wind as a portal opened in the T.V. The three girls had barely a moment of clarity before they were sucked into the portal.

In a different dimension...

The portal opened, spitting the three girls into a forest near twilight. All were unconscious until Alexia groaned. “Moppet, I’m going to murder you.”

“No, you’re not.” Lane replied, grunting. She rose, holding her chest. “Ouch.”

“Sorry.” Moppet squeaked, getting up as well before looking at the others. “AHHHHHHH!!!! WE’RE LEGO! AHHHHHH-”

Moppet’s scream was cut off, as Alexia slammed a branch from the ground into Moppet’s face, who passed out.

“Did you have to do that?” Lane asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Yes. Do you have anything in your pockets?” Alexia responded. “We’ll need everything we’ve got.”

Nodding, Lane drug into her pockets. She frowned slightly, trying to get to the bottom of her pockets but failing. Finally, she put her entire arm into the pocket, grunting before producing a short broadsword. “Um... that breaks the laws of physics, right?”

“Let me try!” Alexia searched her own pockets before producing a katana along with its sheath. “Sweet! Anything else?”

Lane got to the bottom of her pockets, producing a bottle with a green skull, another short sword, and a few coins. “What kind of poison is this?” Lane murmured, trying to find a label.

“Let’s not find out. First off, it’s getting dark.” Alexia noted. “Wake up Moppet and see if you can find somewhere for shelter. Or a source of water.”

“On it.” Lane picked up Moppet, giving her a quick piggyback.

A few hours later, Alexia returned with a plump rabbit and a few wild plants. “Anyone know how to skin a rabbit?”

“Uh... kind of?” Lane replied, grabbing the rabbit. She took out a sharp knife and after making several holes in the skin managed to separate meat from skin. Moppet took a bucket filled with water, and the trio cooked the rabbit and plants over a small fire.

“Okay, we’re in some weird dimension where we’re Lego, the laws of physics don’t apply to our pockets, and we have about zero ideas on where we are.” Alexia said, finishing her soup.

“Not very heartening.” Lane noted, gulping down her soup. “Although I think we can all agree to blame Moppet.”

“Hey!” Moppet protested.

“You crossed the wires, and you were the one who sent us here.” Lane pointed out.

“Speaking of which, shouldn’t we be in a T.V. show?” Alexia asked.

“Ooh! If we’re in Doctor Who, I can meet a Dalek!” Lane squealed.

“Lane, even if we were in Doctor Who we would be on some random planet and not Lego. There would be a very small likelihood of us meeting the Doctor.” Alexia told her.

“Way to crush my dream.” Lane mumbled.

“Lane, I don’t wanna meet a Dalek!” Moppet whimpered.

“Ditto. I plan to live to the age of, say, sixty?” Alexia put in.

“Fiiiiiine.” Lane pouted.

“Listen, until we know  _ exactly _ where we are, we’d better take watches. I’ll go first.” Alexia got up, leaning against the cave entrance. She took out her katana, looking at it.

_ Wonder if our Lego game physics apply here. _ Alexia murmured.  _ Worth a shot, I suppose. _

She concentrated on her sword, and after a moment water burst forth from the blade. Alexia yelped, and the water fell from the katana, splattering onto the ground. Lane ran outside, looking at Alexia. “Everything alright?”

“I think... I think water just burst out from my sword.” Alexia replied, confused but smiling.

“Wow... Lego physics are here...” Lane murmured.

“Oh! Do I have powers, do I have powers?” Moppet squealed.

“Um... try concentrating. If you feel something, that’s good.” Alexia explained.

Moppet closed her eyes then shouted. “I feel it! I feel-” She burped, and dropped her head, ashamed.

“Well...” Alexia murmured, raising her eyebrow. “I don’t think that counts.”

“Aw.” Moppet pouted. She sat on the ground, hanging her head. “What can I control?”

“We’ll find out tomorrow. The sun’s setting.” Alexia replied, shielding her eyes.

“Huh... it’s not that bright...” Moppet whispered, squinting. The sun flashed brightly, and all three girls were forced to close their eyes as they were wreathed in light. 

“Okay...” Lane groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Be careful with that, would you?”

“S-sure.” Moppet said, nodding. Moppet and Lane returned to the cave, while Alexia sat down.

_ Well... this has been an eventful day. _ She thought to herself.  _ But when I said I wanted to not be bored, this isn’t what I meant.  _ Alexia sighed.  _ We’ll need to be careful. _


	2. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After arriving in a new dimension, the girls find themselves with new powers... and new allies? Can they become accustomed to this drastic change?

Alexia awoke the next morning, yawning. Moppet was still out cold, and Lane was outside, currently as still as a statue, with a look of blind terror on her face.

“Uh, Lane?” Alexia asked when she exited the cave, concerned. * **Keep in mind, Lane is the girl who, as a child, loved three-headed dragons who would cheerfully eat her alive. She’s not scared of most things.***

Lane giggled nervously, “You know how you have the whole ‘water sword’ thing?”

“You mean where I can summon water for about two seconds before it splats on the ground, meaning I have absolutely no control what-so-ever of it?” Alexia asked, confused.

“Yeah… It looks like I got a branch of sin instead…” Lane explained, her voice off.

“Wait, which one?” Alexia questioned.

Lane shrugged, “I guess one where I can freely control blood.”

“Okay...” Alexia murmured, confused.

“Ooo! Lemme try!” Moppet insisted.

“Wait, can you control,” Alexia’s question was cut off by a quick flash of light, blinding the three girls. “Never mind.”

“Sorry.” Moppet whispered, handing her head in shame.

“Either way, it’s obvious we have no control over these powers.” Lane noted. “Why don’t we try with our weapons?”

“Well, since you have swords, I’ll spar you. But we’re using sticks, since I don’t want to lose an arm.” Alexia offered.

An hour later...

“Ninja!” Sensei Wu came out onto the deck, where the four were training Lloyd. “There is a disturbance in the Northern Forest. Make sure it is not Lord Garmadon.”

“Yes, sensei.” The four replied, putting their weapons away.

“What do you think it is?” Kai asked when Sensei Wu had returned inside.

“Who knows? I just hope this isn’t going to be another of Lord Garmadon’s schemes.” Jay groaned. “We just got the Bounty back, and I don’t want to lose it!”

“It’s probably animals. That won’t be so bad, right?” Cole asked.

“I do not think so.” Zane answered. “Look.”

The four ninja looked over the railing, finding two girls down in the forest, fighting with two long sticks. Both were covered in bruises, and a younger girl was off to the side, watching them with interest and hands over her ears. The girl with brown hair managed a hit on the blonde girl, who swore in pain.

“Alexia! Young ears are listening!” The brown haired girl scolded.

“Lane, when someone hits me really hard in the arm I think I’m entitled to swearing.” Alexia grunted. “‘Sides, Moppet’s not listening, right Mops?”

“What?” Moppet yelled, trying to hear Alexia.

“See?” Alexia asked triumphantly.

“Try to control it, would you?” Lane muttered, thrusting with her stick.

The four males looked at each other, confused. “Why are they hitting each other with sticks?” Jay asked.

“Who knows? We’ll have to be careful,” Cole stopped, realizing Zane had already hopped down and was approaching the girls.

“Hello, may I ask why you are here?” Zane questioned politely.

Alexia and Lane spun around, dropping their sticks in favor of their swords, belted around their hips. “Who the hell are you?!” Alexia demanded before rolling her eyes as Lane coughed disapprovingly. “Shut it, Lane.”

“My name is Zane, one of the four ninja. I am the ninja of ice.” He responded politely.

“The  _ who _ ?” Lane asked, suspicious.

Alexia groaned, putting away her sword. “Never mind. Lane, we’re in a cartoon.”

Lane’s eyes went wide, then she let loose with a torrent of German, “Für die Liebe der Physik, was habe ich in einem früheren Leben zu tun, um dieses Schicksal zu verdienen!”

Zane looked at Lane concerned, as she began to pull herself together. “Is she alright?”

Face-palming, Alexia sighed. “Lane, not all of us speak German with any level of proficiency.”

“What’s going on?” Moppet shouted, hands still over her ears.

“TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF YOUR EARS!” Alexia screamed, causing everyone else to cover their ears.

“She’s got a loud voice.” Kai grunted, wondering if his eardrums were damaged.

Cole jumped off the ship, walking towards Zane and the girls. “Why were you fighting with sticks?”

Lane shrugged. “We preferred to not lose any body parts in our sparring, even the non-essential ones.”

When Cole looked at her, dumbfounded, Alexia explained, “We didn’t want to use our swords so we wouldn’t accidently kill each other practicing.”

“Oh.” Jay and Kai joined the group, noting the dark bruises and scrapes on the two older girls.

“You’ve never handled a sword yet you both carry them?” Kai asked.

“It’s complicated.” Lane and Alexia chorused.

“Interesting.” Sensei Wu came out of the ship, looking at the three girls. “Do you have any special abilities?”

Lane looked uncomfortable, but raised her hand, which was spattered with blood from the various scrapes on the two girls. It rose slightly like before, hanging suspended in the air until it slammed into Lane’s forehead once again. “OW! Why does that still hurt?”

“Lane, the laws of physics did not change in the hour since you last had blood slam into your face. Of course it still hurts.” Alexia pointed out.

Lane continued to mutter crossly, rubbing her forehead.

“And you?” Sensei Wu asked Alexia, as the only unfazed male.

“Does this count?” Alexia raised her sword, letting water burst forth before it released onto the ground.

“OH! Let me do mine!” Moppet pleaded.

“WAIT,” Alexia and Lane’s warning was far too late, and Moppet generated a large flash of light, causing everyone to shield their eyes.

“What was that?!” Jay asked, trying to rub some sight back into his eyes.

“Uncontrolled cheerfulness from an eleven year-old optimist.” Lane and Alexia muttered, both managing to open their eyes.

“Sorry...” Moppet whispered, hanging her head for the second time that day.

“Then I believe I know who you are.” Sensei Wu announced.

“Uh, sorry?” Lane asked, confused.

“Ninja-go!” Sensei Wu used Spinjitzu, enveloping each of the three girls. When he finished, Alexia was dressed in an aquamarine ninja suit, Lane in a charcoal suit with red hues, and Moppet in a orange-gold ninja suit.

“Okay... I’m kind of confused here.” Lane muttered.

“Alexia, Master of Water. The raging tides are your fury.” Sensei Wu told Alexia.

“Cool.” Alexia said, grinning.

“Lane, Manipulator of Blood. Your power is swift and strong, like a rush of adrenaline through the bloodstream.” Sensei Wu explained to Lane, who frowned, biting her lip.

“Moppet, Controller of Light. Your soul shines as brightly as the rising sun, glows like the silver moon, and sparkles like the shining stars.” Sensei Wu said gently to Moppet, who, characteristically, grinned.

“Yes!” She squealed.

“If you come with us, we can help you control the powers you possess. Learn to use those powers for good.” Sensei Wu told the girls.

“Sure.” Lane said with a smile, “I kind of miss modern plumbing.”

“I’m game. Beats sleeping in a cave.” Alexia said.

“Come aboard.” The ninja led the three girls to the deck, and Nya had the Bounty take off before giving the other girls a quick tour.

“Dining room is over there, kitchen is here.” Nya explained, pointing to various rooms. “We all rotate with kitchen duty. Bit of a warning, it’s Cole’s night to cook.”

“Eh, how bad can it be?” Lane muttered to Alexia, who shrugged.

“Here’s the spare bedroom. You guys will have bunks.” Nya showed them their room, which featured plain wooden bunks. “If you guys get hungry, there’s stuff for sandwiches in the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” Alexia closed the door after Nya left, looking at Lane and Moppet. “Okay, we’ve established we’re in a cartoon. Meaning...”

“The laws of physics  _ somewhat _ apply.” Lane offered. Alexia gave her a look, and Lane sighed. “Okay, they completely apply.”

“Oh! It means we have our Lego game physics here with pockets!” Moppet added.

“It also possibly,  _ possibly _ means we are going to be faced with minor to major injuries. I watched this with my little brother when he wouldn’t change the channel, and some serious you-know-what happens in this place.” Alexia pointed out, sitting on a lower bunk.

“So basically, we need to be careful. With that established, sleepy time you only got five hours last night Moppet!” Lane scooped up her sister, and proceeded to tuck her in before claiming the bunk above for herself.

Chucking at her friends’ insane need for sleep, Alexia laid down on her own bunk, staring at the one above.  _ Being left alone with your thoughts for too long is boring. _ She muttered to herself after dozing for around an hour. She dug into her pocket, finding an ipod and 3DS. “Finally, something entertaining!”

Nya found the three girls in the afternoon in their room, Moppet snoring soundly, Lane tossing and turning restlessly beneath a pile of blankets and Alexia fiercely concentrating on  _ Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds _ . “You guys hungry?”

“A bit.” Alexia replied, closing her 3DS. “Lane?” Lane didn’t respond, even after being shaken by both Alexia and Nya. “Fine, miss lunch, it’s,”

Lane shot up. “Lunch? I’m coming.” She hopped down, hauling a still-sleeping Moppet over her shoulder by the collar of her shirt.

Nya, surprised, ran to catch up with the other girls. “Why were you sleeping?”

“Too little sleep last night, since we had to take watches to avoid getting attacked.” Alexia replied, stiffening a yawn. “God, I wish I could sleep like you Mops.”

“Lane?” Moppet yawned, opening her eyes. “Wazz goin on?”

“Lunch.” Lane answered, letting go of Moppet’s collar.

“Ooo, food!” Moppet ran up to the counter, grabbing a sandwich off the counter. Kai, who was already in the room, scowled.

“Hey! I was going to eat that!” Kai argued.

“Sorry.” Moppet said sadly, and with a longing look toward her potential lunch, handed back the sandwich.

“Where are the others?” Alexia asked, looking around.

“Outside with Lloyd.” Nya answered, pointing to the deck.

“Speaking of which, I’ve got to go. See ya, sis.” Kai exited, and Lane began inspecting the cabinets.

“Where’s the ramen?” She asked, opening all the cabinets.

“I don’t think we have any.” Nya responded, confused. “What’s ramen?”

“Think instant noodles, except they put soy sauce and other stuff in there.” Alexia told her, grabbing a few items for a sandwich. “Do you guys have a weight room?”

“Across from the dining room.” Nya answered.

“Thanks.” Alexia left, tossing her sandwich to Moppet as Lane huffed.

“I’m gonna miss ramen.” Moppet mumbled, her mouth full of sandwich.

“So, how did you guys get in woods in the first place?” Nya asked.

Lane and Moppet quickly looked at each other, trying to think of an excuse. “Uh...”

Hours later...

Alexia returned to the room she shared with Lane and Moppet, sweating heavily. The other two were looking at each other, worried and not speaking. “Okay, what happened?”

“Nya asked how we got in the woods in the first place.” Lane told her.

“What’d you say? Amnesia? Abandoned by parents? Lost after a serial attack?” Alexia rambled, earning a raised eyebrow from Lane.

“You underestimate us. We just dodged the question.” Lane said, rolling her eyes, “It’s not like they would believe any of those anyway.”

“Good call.” Alexia wiped sweat off her forehead, sighing. “Geez, these guys are exercise freaks! The minimum weights are fifty pounds!”

“How’d you lift those?” Moppet asked, amazed.

“I  _ didn’t _ . I just did any exercise not requiring weights. Which got old quickly.” Alexia told her. Lane threw Alexia a towel from the bathroom, which she used gratefully. 

“Do you think Santa takes prayers?” asked Lane suddenly, “I mean, we are in a kid’s cartoon…”

Alexia blinked, momentarily confused by the subject change, “I think he’s in his off season now…” she said slowly. “But I guess you could try...”

Lane just sighed. “Okay...”

A few hours later...

“Dear Santa, or the Doctor, or whoever else can hear me and happens to be in a helpful mood,” Lane began, clasping her hands. Both Moppet and Alexia were watching, Moppet with interest and Alexia with confusion. Lane opened one eye, noting that both her friend and her little sister were watching before continuing.

“I know this is your off-season Santa, and you’re probably very busy Doctor, and if you’re the giant chicken creator then you’re just watching us for entertainment... but please, if you can just help…” she began before mumbling quietly, “... don’t know how long… if you could just… methylfolate…”. she sighed, beginning to unclasp her hands, but then suddenly brightened, smiling widely and adding, “alsoifyoucouldsendmeadalektthenicouldhugitandgetthatoffmybucketlist”

“What was that?” Alexia asked, still confused.

“Just an insurance policy.” Lane insisted.

Nya came in, having not heard the prayer/fandom offering/nuts talk Lane had done. “Dinnertime. Be warned, Cole made his ‘special chili’.”

“Ooo, chili! Chili’s good!” Moppet squealed.

“Uh, when you say ‘special’, what does that mean?” Lane asked, wondering how bad of a cook Cole was.

“You’ll see.” Nya answered, sighing.

Said chili was green, had chunks of uncooked cheese in it, and gave an aroma that could knock most people out. Alexia cautiously poked it with a spoon, eyeing the suspicious and likely not thoroughly cooked meat. “Should I be eating this?” She muttered to Kai, who was next to her.

Kai shrugged. “Just try to keep down a few spoonfuls to not hurt his feelings.”

“Never liked chili.” Alexia murmured to herself, watching Lane and Moppet both eat a spoonful.

The results were somewhat amusing; Moppet turned green, and managed to somehow spit it back into her bowl without anyone but Alexia noticing. Lane made a face equivalent to her deadly, angry ‘I-don’t-like-you-and-I’m-going-to-use-chemical-weapons-against-you’ face, though she managed to swallow it. She then gagged, trying to hold down the bile coming up her throat.

“Worse than my cooking, then?” Alexia joked quietly.

Lane gave her the evil eye. “Your cooking, which by the way is perfectly fine, is infinitely better.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Alexia carefully ate a spoonful, making sure to dose her mouth in water immediately afterward. While it assisted with the trip  _ down _ , it did not assist when the chili tried to work its way back  _ up _ her throat. “Good god.”

Ten minutes later, after everyone besides Cole had managed to sneak their chili back into the pot, dinner was over and everyone returned to their rooms. “ _ How _ do you mess food up like that?!” Lane ranted, pacing. “He took something delicious like chili, and made it  _ disgusting _ !”

“I looked at the list for who has to cook breakfast tomorrow. Hate to say it, but Cole’s on breakfast duty.” Alexia told her, dozing on her bunk.

Lane huffed. “Well then I am going to have to change that! I wouldn’t feed that to a dog, and I hate dogs!”

“Oi. Dogs do not deserve anything near that bad. Now, I’m going to sleep.” Alexia called, going under her covers and finally falling asleep. Moppet quickly followed, eventually followed by the scheming Lane. 


	3. A New Day and New Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first full day on the Bounty arrives early for the girls, but what trials await? And why are Moppet and Lane so absurdly clumsy?

Alexia awoke, and frowned, realizing there was a sticky note posted on her face. Groaning, she pulled it off and read the note, only to sigh.

_ Dear Alexia, _

_ As you know full well, I cannot wake up early without a good deal of assistance. Could you please wake me up when you do (crack of dawn is preferable) so I can ensure we do not have to eat the ...food... that idiot Cole will cook? _

_ -Lane _

Sliding out of bed, Alexia walked over to Lane’s bunk, careful to not wake Moppet. “Lane, get up! It’s the crack of dawn, per your specifications!” Alexia whispered.

Lane only mumbled and pulled her pillow over her head. After several tries, Alexia grabbed Lane’s blankets, throwing them on the floor and began to hit Lane with her pillow. At this, Lane stirred.

“Ow!” Lane whined as she sat up, still half-asleep. “Give me back my pillow!”

“Lane, you’re my friend, but if I must use the tactics I used to wake up my brother, then I will. Do you want to cook breakfast or not?” Alexia demanded, pillow still in hand.

“Yes...” Lane muttered, rubbing her eyes.

“Then come on, if memory serves me right, you’ve got five minutes since these guys get up at dawn too.” Alexia told her, walking into the bathroom to take a shower.

_ The pills are almost gone. _ Lane mumbled to herself.

Technically, she shouldn’t even be taking these, as the sedatives are only meant for if she loses control, but apparently this (Dream? Hallucination brought on by improper dosage?) decided to pull her away from the stock of her normal meds on the kitchen table. Either way, they seem to be working well enough, cartoon physics apparently makes all medicines she was given for her ...condition serve about the same purpose. 

Lane climbed out of bed and began slumping towards the kitchen, “Even if I don’t have long left, there is no way in heck I’m letting Moppet eat that garbage.” Lane muttered, stumbling blindly towards the kitchen. She always took care of Moppet, even in the dreams where she lost it, where there was the red and the black and blood, even then she had to take care of her little baby sister. This... this nightmare was new, and started so innocently, until she suddenly realized the pills were running out, and knowing the danger to Moppet increased every day, Lane had begun to prepare to die and allow the dream to end.

Lane finally reached into the kitchen, still walking and feeling like a zombie. Blindly, she fumbled around the cabinets, eventually finding the flour and baking powder. The fridge had milk, eggs, and butter, so she threw everything into a bowl, heating up a pan on the side. By the time she poured the first batch in, she was finally awake.

Lane continued to make pancakes, humming as the smell filled the room. On the side she cooked some bacon and sausage, the smell of which brought Alexia to the kitchen. “Are you accounting for the fact we’re cooking for...” Alexia paused, mentally counting. “Ten people, after just about no one ate dinner last night?”

“Way ahead of you.” Lane replied, pointing to the three extra bowls of batter. “Though, I thought you said they wake up as the crack of dawn, but I don’t see any-”

Her statement was interrupted by a loud gong. Four voices groaned, and Alexia smirked. “Correction: they get up  _ around _ dawn.”

The gong sounds continued, travelling towards the girls’ room. It stayed there for a good, solid five minutes before Sensei Wu entered the kitchen, slightly confused. “Your sister does not seem to be waking up.”

“Moppet can sleep through WWIII.” Lane responded, shrugging.

“I’ll get her.” Alexia offered, exiting the room.

Lane finished cooking the first batch, laying everything out on the table. The four ninja walked in, surprised at finding edible and good-looking food on the table. “I thought it was Cole’s turn to cook breakfast.” Jay said, confused.

“It was!” Cole told him, irritated.

“Tough luck, there was no way I was going to eat the slop you claim is food.” Lane fired back, going back to the kitchen to continue cooking.

“My cooking’s not bad, is it?” Cole asked.

Kai and Jay looked at each other, quickly stuffing their mouths with food so they couldn’t respond. Zane chose to politely remain silent, sitting down and serving himself. Thankfully, Alexia walked in, dragging a sleeping Moppet behind her. “Save some sausage!” Alexia insisted, positioning Moppet so she could smell the food.

Immediately Moppet woke up, her eyes lighting up at the sight and smell of delicious food. “Food!” Moppet grabbed several pancakes before Lane came back in with another dish of pancakes, frowning at her sister.

“Moppet Julia Smith, leave some food for everyone else!” Lane ordered. Moppet, despite putting on her most adorable puppy face, was unable to change Lane’s mind, and ultimately had to replace about half of the pancakes she had taken, though it still left her with four pancakes and several pieces of bacon.

“Where’s Lloyd?” Kai asked.

As it turned out, Lloyd was currently being dragged into the dining room by a very annoyed Nya. Lloyd was struggling, trying to get her to stop. “Nya, please! I don’t want to eat the crud Cole cooked today! I didn’t even get dinner!”

“Come on!” Cole groaned, exasperated. “Why are you guys ranting on my cooking?”

Lane smiled fondly. “Maybe because while you might call it dinner, we would call it a biohazard. Heck, you could make a fortune supplying a chemical weapons company!”

“That’s not true. Is anyone going to defend me?” Cole asked, looking at everyone else.

Wisely, Jay and Kai stuffed their mouths with food again, and Alexia followed their example. Moppet was already simply eating through his questions, while Zane chose polite silence once more and Lane just continued smiling. Lloyd, who had just arrived in the dining room, was too busy filling his plate with delicious food to notice. Nya just ignored the question, focusing on eating as well.

Thankfully for everyone’s sake, Sensei Wu walked in, bamboo stick in hand. “Today, we are going to review the basics. Lloyd, you will assist training Moppet to your level. Everyone else, you will assist Alexia and Lane.”

“Yes, sensei.” The male ninja chorused. Once breakfast was finished (and Cole stopped asking why the toxic, inedible, and downright disgusting slop he served was considered terrible), the group split off into two groups.

Lloyd took Moppet into the room with a mini-obstacle course. “Here’s how we learn Spinjitzu.” Lloyd explained. “The obstacles help you find how to activate it.”

Turning on the course, Lloyd easily made it through, finishing in under a minute. “Okay!” Moppet stepped forward, only to have an obstacle slam into her face and make her fall onto her back. “Ow...”

“You okay?” Lloyd asked, hovering over her.

“Uh-huh.” Moppet rubbed her forehead, trying in vain to rub the pain away. “I’ll just go again!”

“Wait, you should,” Lloyd finished his sentence with a groan, as Moppet found herself hit by the same obstacle, this time in the ear.

“Ow! Owowowow.” Moppet mumbled, getting up... and getting hit by the Exact. Same. Obstacle.

Lloyd dragged Moppet out of the obstacle’s range, shaking his head.  _ Is  _ **_this_ ** _ how the guys’ felt when they were first training me? _ He thought to himself.  _ In that case... I  _ **_really_ ** _ need to apologize for being an idiot... _

“What am I doing wrong?” Moppet asked, actually confused.

Groaning and facepalming, Lloyd looked at her, wondering if Moppet was pulling his leg or not before deciding it was the latter. “You’ve got to learn from your mistakes. If you keep randomly entering at the same point and not trying to avoid that obstacle, you’ll never get past it.”

“Oh. Okay!” Moppet looked back at the course, concentrating her hardest before running in. This time, she managed to avoid the first obstacle... only to get hit by the second, since she had been concentrating too hard on the first.

Lloyd looked at Moppet, shaking his head. “Don’t get distracted. And... don’t concentrate THAT hard on one obstacle.”

Moppet mulled over Lloyd’s advice, nodding before she really knew what he was saying. “Okay!”

Over half an hour later, Moppet had made 65 attempts at the obstacle course. The closest she had gotten to completion was on her 60th try, when Moppet had gotten halfway through the course, only to be so excited one of the pegs on the rotating part slammed her in the face. Lloyd watched, first in complete dread thinking,  _ This... this is insane... and I’ve got to train her _ , and later in amusement, finding her fails funny.  _ At least this makes for good entertainment. _

After seeing Moppet get her body slammed into the wall, Lloyd turned the course off. “Let’s take a break.”

“Okay!” Moppet said, as she bounced off the floor and walked towards the deck, stunning Lloyd.

_ They weren’t kidding when they said Moppet’s an optimist. _ He muttered to himself.

Moppet opened the door to the deck, only to freeze, her mouth hanging open. Lloyd, confused and slightly concerned, waved his hand in front of her face. “What’s wrong?”

Alexia, who had just been flipped over and was groaning in pain, noticed as well. “Mops, is something wrong?”

After blinking a few times, Moppet quickly pinched herself. “Ow! Ow! Ow!” After that, Moppet slapped herself. “Owwwwwwwwwww!” Finally, when all of her different methods she used to ‘wake-herself-from-this-world-where-everything-is-messed-up’ had failed, resulting in several bruises and confused looks from the others, Moppet ran towards her sister, and proceeded to trip, fall, and skid on the ground, where she remained, motionless.

Zane, who had been sparing with Lane, immediately stopped and crouched beside Moppet. “Is she alright?” He asked, alarmed.

Lane shrugged, looking worried. “My sister and I are clumsy, but not THAT clumsy. C’mon Miss Mops-A-Lot, time to get up.” Lane dragged her sister up off the floor, plopping Moppet next to the wall.

Moppet remained unconscious against the wall, Lloyd nearby and confused, while the others seemed to shrug off the awkward event (not really) and continued training, while Lane continued to worry over her sister (to very little visible effect).

After three more hours of the two girls getting their butts kicked, Sensei Wu allowed for a break, during which Alexia and Lane flopped on their beds and tried to not feel the colorful array of bruises scattered across their bodies hurting. Moppet, who had been dragged in by a combined effort of Zane and Lane, was apparently comatose, and lying on her bed.

Nya came in after about fifteen minutes, carrying two glasses of water and a packet of aspirin. “Thought you guys might need this.”

“God, you’re a lifesaver.” Alexia muttered, gulping down two pills before splashing some of her water on her face.

“Thank you so much.” Lane groaned, drinking the water in less than ten seconds.

“So, do you guys have any ideas on why Moppet freaked out?” Nya questioned.

Alexia shrugged, clueless, as did Lane. “Tripping and skidding across the floor is perfectly normal for us, though.”

Both Nya and Alexia looked at her, confused. “It is?” They chorused.

“Jinx.” Lane sang. “And yes, we happen to be painfully clumsy. Painful for us at least. So, is it lunch yet or what?”

“Lunch is a bit of a free-for-all. Normally we eat leftovers, but... the only leftover food is Cole’s chili...” Nya said the last bit slower, and all three of the girls shivered.

“Since Lane made breakfast, I’ll see if I can make lunch.” Alexia offered. She slid off her bunk, thankful the pain meds had kicked in and she no longer felt pain from moving.

Ten minutes later, Alexia came back with three beef burgers and a chicken burger for herself, along with a large bag of chips. “Unfortunately, this is about the limit of my cooking expertise when it comes to lunch.”

“Fine by me.” Lane replied, her mouth full. Nodding her own approval, Nya dug into her own burger just as Moppet stirred. Her eyes popped open as she smelled the delicious smell of hamburgers, and Moppet slowly sat up mumbling, “Lane, I had a REALLY weird dream… we were in this TV show I saw once, and… AUGH!”

Concerned, Lane put down her food and hugged Moppet, who was staring at her hands in horror, before quietly saying, “Yes Moppet, we have lost our fingers, it’s still no excuse for that kind of scream. To get any real volume you need to breathe from the stomach.”

“Wait... did she just say ‘TV show’?” Nya asked, suspicious.

Panicking, Alexia quickly came up with a somewhat awful, yet convincing excuse. “See, Moppet had these WEIRD dreams, and at some points she mixes reality and dreams, so she wakes up screaming she doesn’t have fingers occasionally. What  _ are _ fingers anyway?” Alexia gave a nervous laugh.

“Aren’t they those things you can get on kids meals?” Lane asked, catching on quickly.

Nya looked between the two girls, remembering they had done somewhat strange things earlier, such as Lane’s creative but accurate insults of Cole, and accepted their words as the truth. Moppet opened her mouth to voice her confusion, but Lane shoved the last burger into her mouth, temporarily silencing Moppet while she chewed so Lane could rapidly whisper the situation to the only other person in the room who spoke German.

Once they finished eating, Nya offered to clean the dishes. Once she was out of the room, Alexia groaned and gave Moppet a small hit on the shoulder. “Don’t blurt out about fingers! Or TV shows. Or... anything suspicious.” She admonished.

“Yes ma’am.” Moppet promised.


	4. First Impressions Are Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the day progresses, the girls manage to make steadily worse first impressions, until the next day when Alexia proves herself as yet another residential hothead.

“Okay, WHY did you freak out?” Alexia insisted, questioning Moppet.

“Well...” Moppet said slowly. “This has to be a dream, ‘cause you guys were defeated in those sparring matches! You guys are completely invincible!”

Silence filled the room before Lane responded to her younger sister. “Moppet... we’re nowhere near the strongest. And we’re certainly not anywhere close to invincible!”

“Yeah, get used to us not winning Moppet.” Alexia muttered. “And get used to seeing us covered in bruises from training.”

Hours later...

Everyone gathered at the table with the exception of Zane, who was cooking. While the male ninja were trying to act normally, they found it hard as they still knew just about nothing about the newcomers. Nya got sick of them staring and pretending to not be, and stood up.

“Alright, how about we get to know each other?” Nya asked. Alexia looked up from her book while Lane stopped mumbling in German with Moppet.

Lane decided to begin, trying to think how best to describe herself, her friend, and her sister. “Well... I'm emotionally stunted, my friend here is very smart, top marks in school, though just a bit insane, and my little sister is the most normal of us and will hug anything that breathes... and some things that don’t.” She said as cheerfully as possible.

The result was largely the opposite of what Lane had hoped. Jay’s mouth dropped, and he shivered in fear while Cole, who at this point still disliked Lane for her bashing of his cooking, just scowled at her. Kai, confused, felt he should keep himself and his sister at a distance from them, and Zane, who had walked in from the kitchen, was interested in her choice of words. Lloyd was just confused.

Alexia rolled her eyes. “Okay, Moppet is just about always happy. Lane’s... the textbook definition of weird but incredibly smart, and I’m weird as well, got good grades, and am best friends with Lane. Any questions?”

Jay raised his hand slowly, causing Alexia to groan. “I wasn’t serious, but what?”

“Why would you say you’re insane?” Jay asked.

“Because all smart people are thought as insane/stupid by any stupid person. Which is not helped by the fact smart people are filled with doubt and stupid people are filled with confidence in general.” Alexia recited.

Lane shrugged, “There is a fine line between insanity and genius.”

“Can we eat now?” Moppet asked, oblivious to the exchanges. Zane nodded, placing two large roasted chickens on the table. Using the fact the male ninja were still somewhat stunned, Alexia and Moppet both grabbed drumsticks, leaving the males to fight against Lane for the white meat. Dinner remained quiet until Zane re-entered the kitchen, when Lane whispered in Alexia’s ear,

“Is it just me or is he different from the others?” She asked.

“Yeah. At least he didn’t freak out at our explanations.” Alexia pointed out, ripping another piece of meat off her drumstick.

Again, Nya tried to break the tension of the group. “Anything else? Do you guys like sports or something?”

Alexia shrugged. “I’m into video games, the internet, stuff like that.”

“We share a common interest in Doctor Who!” Lane put in.

“Which is?” Zane asked, intrigued.

“The show about a man who isn’t a man in a box that isn’t a box.” Lane smiled, eyes shining, “He faces down all sorts of enemies. My favorites are the Daleks.”

“And those are...?” Jay questioned.

“Genetically modified super intelligent creatures living inside of weaponized metal cases.” Lane cheered, “They’re also psychotic xenophobic killing machines.” Lane continued, fangirling  **(That there’s a technical term laddie)** more than a little. 

To prevent confusion, Alexia and Moppet jumped in. “Lane really likes them. This is her expressing that love.” Alexia explained.

“They don’t exist.” Moppet added helpfully.

After that, Nya gave up and the rest of the dinner passed in silence, and the female ninja gratefully went back to their rooms. “Well, that didn’t go so badly!” Lane said cheerfully.

Neither having the energy to argue, Alexia and Moppet just shook their heads at Lane, climbing into bed and waiting for the next day.

Lane paused for a moment before grumbling, “Yeah fine, zero casualties isn’t ALWAYS a win, but that’s just technical…”, climbing into her bunk.

“Shut up, Lane.” Alexia muttered, falling asleep.

The next morning...

Lane and Alexia woke up normally, and forced Moppet out of bed, as usual. What was  _ not _ usual was them nearly walking in on what seemed to a be a somewhat private meeting of the other inhabitants of the ship, minus Sensei Wu.

“Guys, they are not that bad! Stop making it seem like they’re dangerous!” Nya said, exasperated.

“Nya, they’re not safe; they call themselves insane, they spend most of their time locked up in their room doing who knows what, and according to what you said, one of them woke up screaming about kids meals!” Jay shouted.

“Don’t worry,” Lane said with a gentle smile, “We’re mostly harmless! Well I am anyway, Moppet is just a cream puff. Nothing to worry about at all.”

Everyone in the room spun around, both surprised and terrified at the voice which had come from behind. Zane recovered first, and politely asked, “What about Alexia?”

Alexia shrugged. “...I have good impulse control?”

At this point, there was an awkward silence in the room broken by Moppet, still asleep, who stumbled in and passed out on top of Lloyd before snoring softly. “Is this normal?” Lloyd asked, disturbed.

“Actually, this is quite rare! Could you stay still for awhile so I can see how long this lasts?” Lane responded, taking out a timer.

“Uh, no.” Lloyd snorted, moving and allowing Moppet to fall onto the floor. Moppet didn’t wake up, instead continuing to sleep peacefully. Lane sighed, grabbing her sister’s shirt collar.

“I’ll get some water to splash in her face.” Lane mumbled. After doing so liberally (and hearing Moppet yelp in surprise and annoyance at being woken up), the two girls returned to the control room and found Alexia arguing loudly.

“How is that supposed to mean you’re not dangerous?!” Kai shouted, currently locked in battle with Alexia. The others were off the side, watching more in interest as the hothead and newcomer shouted in fury at each other.

“Maybe because you people are, I dunno, TRAINED ASSASSINS?!?! You people are the ones who are dangerous!” Alexia screamed, using her impulse control to avoid sending her knee into Kai’s groin, though it was beginning to fail her.

“And you people are insane! You even admitted to it!” Kai countered.

“Insane is broad! There's two types of insane: Bad insane, killing and violent, and good insane, smart and awkward. Lane and I happen to be good insane, dimwit!” Alexia yelled.  ***Once, I told my bus driver the same thing minus about my friend. He instantly replied that I was more bad insane than good. :)***

“And we’re supposed to believe that?!” Kai responded, still not giving reason to his argument, merely refusing to listen to Alexia.

“I’m sorry, but I have one word to describe you people: PATHETIC. You are PATHETIC, since you have decided to fear two people who couldn’t even scratch you guys during sparring matches, and another person who is harmless to the point where it endangers her life!” Alexia paused for breath before shouting again. “Logic would say WE should be shitting our pants in front of you.”

Sensing Kai and Alexia were about to engage in yet another screaming match, Zane stepped forward. “Might I select a victor so both of you do not lose your voices?”

“Fine.” Alexia grunted, silently thankful as her throat was now scratchy from yelling.

“Alright.” Kai nodded, figuring his brother would be on his side.

Zane looked at the two, then began. “There is a clear victor with this argument is obviously Alexia.”

“WHAT?!” Kai yelled, joined by Cole who also wasn’t happy about his brother losing to the best friend of Lane.

“Throughout the argument, Alexia presented more evidence, countered your arguments better, and also she was the only person to make comprehensive points after the five minute mark.” Zane responded, perfectly calm.

“I agree.” Nya added. At her brother’s angered face, she groaned. “Kai, her last point was convincing; it makes no sense for you guys to be afraid of them.”

Before Kai was able to continue arguing, Sensei Wu came in, clearly annoyed he had been awoken early on a day which was normally reserved for rest and relaxation. “Might I ask why I have only heard screaming for the past ten minutes?”

Immediately Lane started explaining, even beating Zane to the punch as he was about to give a long winded speech on what had happened in detail. Lane did better, explaining the entire thing in less than twenty words. “Kai and Alexia went at each other over who should be afraid of who, and Alexia won.”

Sensei Wu sighed. “Then as the people who woke me up, Alexia and Kai can have extra chores today.”

“Chores?!” The two gaped.

“Yes. Both of you will prepare all meals today, and clean up after said meals. Also, an ounce of arguing from either of you shall result in more chores. I expect you to be so quiet I cannot hear a sound!” Sensei Wu left the room, and Alexia fumed.

“Nice job, hothead.” She grunted as softly as possible, storming out of the room.

“Yeah, ‘cause this is  _ my _ fault.” Kai grumbled, following.

There was another long silence before Lane cheerfully stated, “Well that went rather well!” Everyone promptly stared at Lane, who shrugged. “They both came out alive, didn’t they, and uninjured, another plus!”

Moppet punched her sister in the shoulder, but only ended up hurting her own hand.


	5. Punishment and Their Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexia and Kai end up paying for their argument, but both end up coming away from it slightly less angry (ironically). Meanwhile, Lane shows her inner fangirl.

Alexia and Kai went into the kitchen, refusing to speak or look at each other. For Kai it was because he didn’t want to get more chores from another fight, and Alexia since she had nearly lost all of her impulse control in the last fight.

Rolling up her sleeves and stuffing her gloves into her ninja suit pocket, Alexia grabbed a mixing bowl, practically throwing in the eggs and milk due to her rage.  _ You don’t have anger issues. You’re merely surrounded by assholes. You are merely surrounded by assholes. You. Are. Merely. Surrounded. By. Assholes. _ She chanted to herself, nearly beating the egg and milk mixture out of the bowl.

Kai, mildly interested in the fact Alexia was mixing so aggressively he was able hear it from across the room, stopped heating pans and watched Alexia continually beat the living pulp out of the batter. At some point Alexia slammed the bowl on the counter, and began searching through the cabinets. After a moment of pondering, Kai spoke up. “Looking for something?”

Avoiding eye-contact once again, Alexia continued searching and only spoke when she was unable to find what she had been searching for. “Bread. Preferably wheat.”

Reaching into a nearby drawer, Kai pull out a loaf and laid it next to Alexia, who made sure to not notice until he had turned back to his work. She was surprised when he started talking again, right after she’d picked up the loaf. “Need something done?”

Alexia started thinking. Technically, she was used to having to work with idiots and having to do all the work while they laid back and did nothing. She was also used to making them do nothing as the work those idiots produced was along the lines of not remotely useful. Figuring she was better off with having Kai help her in cooking than Cole, Alexia shrugged. “Coat the pans with butter or oil when they’re hot. And help me with the bacon.”

Nodding, Kai did so. Now somewhat calmer, he saw reason in his sister’s words; after all, they had faced down a snake which could’ve eaten the largest city, so why should three girls make him uneasy?

As it turned out, Kai soon got his answer. When the pans had gotten hot enough and were covered in butter, Kai said, “The pans are hot.” Alexia didn’t respond, so figuring she wasn’t listening, Kai walked over and touched her somewhat gently by the shoulder, simply trying to get Alexia’s attention. He got it, but in the form by Alexia whipping around, throwing his hand off her shoulder. Kai could have sworn he heard Alexia curse under her breath, and her expression wasn’t happy.

“What was that for?!” Alexia grunted, barely keeping her voice from a shout.

Kai frowned. “Just trying to get your attention. Are... are you okay?”

“I’m  _ fine _ .”Alexia gritted through her teeth, laying more stress on the last word than could possibly be healthy. She turned around, biting her lip to prevent a small groan of pain.

Not convinced, Kai tried to tap her on the shoulder, only to get his arm hit in the process. “Don’t touch me, got that asshole?!” Alexia hissed.

Snarling, Kai backed away. “Have it your way.” The two continued work in silence, until Lane walked in.

“Need any help?” She asked cheerfully. Lane then noted the annoyed and angry expression Kai held, along with the mixed expression of Alexia. Immediately realizing what was going on, Lane went over to the stove, whispering softly to Alexia. “I’ll take over. Go to our room and I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”

Alexia nodded gratefully, exiting the room quickly and Lane flipped the pieces of French toast. Once Kai realized Alexia was gone, he opened his mouth to ask why before finding a hot spatula inches from his face held by a very angry Lane. “Whatever you did, you’d better  _ never _ do it again. Got that?!” Lane growled.

Rolling his eyes, Kai snorted. “Yeah, yeah.” Kai was less uneasy towards of Lane, considering she was one of the three who was noted as ‘harmless’.

Ten minutes later, Lane walked into the girls’ bedroom, holding a bag of ice. “What’d he do?” Lane asked.

Calmed down, Alexia took the ice. “It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know.”

“What. Did. He. Do.” Lane scowled.

“He just grabbed my shoulder.” Alexia muttered.

“Let me see.” Lane insisted. In response Alexia took off the shirt of her ninja suit. On her left arm was a large, angry red mark near the top. Running from the shoulder to the middle of her arm was a long scar, old to the point of being slightly pink in the middle but burning red where it had been touched. Lane shook her head, and Alexia applied the ice. “We should put some bandaging on that so this doesn’t happen again.”

“I’ll be fine.” Alexia lied.

“Alexia Tyra Johnson, this is no time to be lying! We are wrapping this shoulder up, understood?” Lane asked, using her motherly tone. The tone itself made Alexia’s heart wretch, but Alexia just sighed.

“Alright. We can use some lotion.” Alexia offered. Knowing this was the only compromise she would get, Lane nodded and walked to the bathroom.

While there, Lane took out one of the last of her emergency meds.  _ This isn’t good. _ She whispered to herself.  _ I’m dangerously low and this is no time for me to lose it, I could do some serious damage to Moppet... and even Alexia might get hurt! I guess I really will need to use  _ _ that _ _ backup plan... _ Shrugging, Lane gulped down her pill and returned to the room with a bottle of lotion. After liberally applying it to Alexia’s scar, especially in the nasty red area, the two girls went to the dining room, where thankfully Nya had saved them some breakfast.

“Where were you two?” Nya asked.

“Room. I had a headache and Alexia’s bruises from yesterday were hurting, so we took some aspirin.” Lane lied easily.

“Okay. The guys are in the game room, so hopefully there won’t be any trouble. See you guys.” Nya left the room, and the girls ate in silence before returning to their room once again. Moppet was on her bunk, playing with her old flip phone.

“Something wrong?” Moppet asked, noticing the grim expressions of her sister and sister’s best friend.

“Nope. C’mon Miss Mops-A-Lot, stop playing with live wires.” Lane scolded lightly, taking away the flip phone.

Alexia laid down on her bunk, watching Lane and her sister playfully tease each other and laugh. She was slightly envious- no, completely envious of the great relationship the siblings held. Lane and Moppet still fought, but generally they were nice to each other. Alexia rolled over, shutting her eyes to avoid watching, and Lane took her turn to study her friend.

They’d been good friends for three years. In the beginning, Lane had thought of Alexia as ‘Moppet’s-little-friend-who-I-should-humor-so-our-social-circle-can-include-someone-we-are-not-related-to’. Later, they had realized how much they had in common, and became closer friends. Even so, Lane knew Alexia rarely trusted anyone with her secrets; the only reason she knew about the scar on Alexia’s shoulder was because she had noticed Alexia’s arm being limp a year ago along with her leg shuffling. At first, Alexia had lied, saying it was martial arts, but Lane pushed and eventually got to see the scar.

_ We’ve all got our problems... _ Lane noted. She smiled, watching Moppet, who had fallen asleep on Lane’s shoulder.  _ Although, I guess Moppet’s biggest problem is who’s going to play with her next. _

Around noon, Alexia went back into the kitchen, taking special care to avoid looking at the door. She was somewhat surprised when Kai came in, as Alexia had expected him to leave lunch to her. Ignoring the feeling he was boring a hole in the back off her head, Alexia finished making a plate of sandwiches, putting them on the table before going to the weight room to blow off some steam.

Lunch was a more talkative meal than breakfast, since only Alexia was missing, which drew Lane’s attention. “Where’d Alexia go?” She questioned Kai.

“She just walked out of the room.” Kai answered.

“I think I saw her going into the weight room.” Jay offered. Lane’s eyebrow rose.

_ That girl is stubborn as a mule. _ Lane muttered to herself.

Trying to revive conversation, Zane turned to Lane and Moppet. “You mentioned you and Alexia shared a common love of a... TV show?”

“Oh yeah!” Lane genuinely smiled. “Do you guys have Netflix?”

“I think so.” Nya replied.

“Then we will introduce you! Moppet, it’s time for the Empty-”

“No!” Moppet’s eyes went wide, cutting off her sister. “Can we do a different episode? Please?”

“But Mops...” Lane whispered. “That was the episode we used to introduce Alexia!”

“And even she said that it gave her nightmares! Please no, sis!” Moppet begged.

“Fiiiiine. We can start with the Dalek!” Lane cheered.

The male ninja and Nya looked at each other, wondering exactly what they were getting into. Everyone started getting up to go back to the game room, and Kai was going to stay behind before Alexia came in, sweat drenched. “I’ve got it.” She mumbled, moving to grab the sandwich platter.

“Uh, no.” Kai told her, taking it instead. At Alexia’s confused look, he said, “We both have to do the chores, and Sensei Wu won’t be happy if he thinks I didn’t help.”

“Fine.” Alexia grabbed the chip bags instead, and Kai noticed her left arm hanging limp at her side.

_ What’s that all about? _ Kai wondered. Washing the platter, he went to the game room and found Lane turning on ‘Doctor Who: The Dalek’. The next hour proceeded to be about how an alien was able to kill several people in an underground base except for the Doctor’s companion, who had brought it to life in the first place.

The first to respond was Jay. “That was… surreal. Are you  sure that those things aren’t real?”

“It  is an infinite universe…”, Lane began.

“No! Definitely not real!” Moppet shouted desperately, before turning to Alexia hopefully, “Please tell her they aren’t real, pleeease!”

Alexia, who had entered the room late into the episode, rolled her eyes. “Moppet, we went over this; if the Daleks exist in our universe, then they are on Skaro. If we haven’t  _ found _ Skaro, then it’s unlikely they’ll be here in the next ten years.”

“Time Travel!” Lane sang.

“Not in this case, we haven’t started accelerating the wormhole Lane!” Moppet said.

The two continued in this tangent, while the others looked on confused,  “What the hell are they arguing about?” Cole asked.

Zane frowned. “I believe I grasp the theory, but as none of the theories they are using as evidence have been proven as of yet, I am unsure whether this is possible or not.”

Lane turned and poked him in the chest, “Is so! The faster an object is traveling, the less time would affect it, so by only accelerating one end of a wormhole, you could travel through to another section of the timestream!”

Zane calmly rebutted, “But even if you survived would you not simply travel to the wormhole’s contemporary counterpart? I do not see how this is even possible…”

Lane made a loud disbelieving noise, and stomped from the room, muttering about the finer points of astrophysics.

Zane looked at the now empty doorway and said, “I was not aware that I had insulted her, could you please explain what I said that so agitated her?”

Moppet looked up, “My sister doesn’t like it when people don’t listen to her. She usually has trouble with strangers, and doesn’t like talking to people she doesn’t know well, so she feels like you’re refusing her best attempt at friendship.” She looked back down at the diagrams the two had sketched on the floor with chalk as they had argued before adding, “She’s not really good at this ‘social’ thing.”

Jay glanced at Moppet nervously, “Should we be going after her?”

Moppet looked out the door, “I would go, but she might throw something at me, and given her large propensity towards sharp pointy objects, that’s something I’d like to avoid.”

A stunned silence filled the room, before Alexia said, “So, you really  _ have _ expanded your vocabulary, haven’t you Moppet?”

Moppet shrugged, “I live with Lane, I  have to learn the long words. I just don’t like using them because they’re so tongue-tying.”

However, as minutes turned to hours, Alexia began looking for Lane, having no luck. Finally, after two more hours of searching, Alexia gave up, finding Moppet. “Can you take over? I’ve got to cook dinner.”

“Sure!” Moppet wandered off, and Alexia returned to the kitchen, grabbing a package of pasta before dumping it in a large pot of boiling water. Five minutes later, Moppet came into the kitchen, Lane trailing behind her. “I found Lane!”

“Where was she?” Alexia gaped, exasperated.

“Behind me!” Moppet said simply, as if everyone knew that.

“The entire time?” Alexia questioned.

“I dunno. Lane, were you behind me the entire time?” Moppet asked Lane, who shook her head.

“No. I noticed you looking for something, so I tagged along to see what you were looking for.” Lane explained.

Moppet turned to Alexia, “No she wasn’t, she-”

“I heard.” Alexia groaned, facepalming. “Just go to the dining room and don’t wander off!” She ordered, and her two friends did so. A minute later, Kai entered the kitchen and assisted by making a red sauce for the pasta. Alexia noted he kept on taking harder jobs, but brushed it off, silently grateful since her left arm would shriek in pain if she moved it very far.

Dinner was a happy, social affair as Lane broke the ice by asking why everyone looked so solemn. The ninja seemed less angry/scared of the girls (with the exception of Cole, naturally) and Zane found himself studying Lane during the meal. Once or twice she would smile fondly at him, as if she didn’t recall the argument from a few hours prior. Cole and Jay would have been annoyed at the person for a few hours, and Kai was known to hold grudges for days. Lloyd never really argued with anyone, and Nya would just remain civil with the person she’d argued with unless it had gotten bad.

Lane, however, was smiling and cheerful throughout the meal, and when someone mentioned her having argued with Zane she would have what looked to be a legitimately puzzled look on her face. When the subject was pushed Lane would merely respond with, “What argument?”, before continuing to eat.

After finding himself unable to understand it fully, Zane returned to his food, thankful today’s meals had been a combined effort of Kai and the newcomer Alexia; while Zane would remain polite to the end, even he had to admit Cole’s food was hazardous to the health of all in the vicinity.

Once dinner was over, everyone left to their rooms, except for Kai and Alexia, who went to their rooms after cleaning the kitchen for the final time. Lane and Moppet were already asleep by the time Alexia entered their shared bedroom, and Alexia made sure to silently slip into the shower to avoid waking them.

While in the shower, Alexia slowly touched her scar, wincing in pain.  _ He’s dimensions away. _ Alexia reminded herself.  _ You... you don’t have to be scared anymore. You DON’T have to be scared anymore. _ Steeling her resolve to not think about home again, Alexia dried off, slipping into bed noiselessly and drifted off alongside her friends.


	6. Midday Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane and Alexia end up finding semi-friendships and Moppet finds herself on the wrong end of a prank, making her an enemy.

“What was with you yesterday?” Alexia asked.

The three girls had just finished their morning training, and were dropping by their room to cool off before lunch. Moppet, having been exercised harder that morning than she tended to be in a week, had conked out for a nap the moment they had gotten in.

“Hm? What are you talking about?” Lane asked absently.

“Maybe the fact you couldn’t remember anything last night from the previous few hours? When you saw my arm bandaged, you thought  _ I’d _ hurt myself! Did you see a Silence or something?” Alexia demanded, worried.

“That seemed a reasonable assumption… Bandages usually mean some sort of domestic accident. Ninety percent of accidents happen in the home, after all…”

Alexia facepalmed. “I meant you! I know for certain what happened to ME, but I still don’t know what happened to YOU.”

Lane shrugged, “Yesterday seemed perfectly normal to me, it was probably just a dream.”

Unable to get anything more after probing for thirty minutes, Alexia gave up, and the two girls banded together to face the monumental task of dragging a determinedly unconscious Moppet to the kitchen. “Is it normal for this kid to sleep for sixteen hours?” Alexia gasped, exhausted from both training and dragging a child who weighed far more than she appeared to.

“Is it normal for any of us to exercise this much?” Lane retorted.

“Yes, but we don’t sleep sixteen hours! Heck, we only sleep nine and that’s how around many hours I got back in our dimension!” Alexia answered, annoyed.

“I got closer to five or six back home. I’m an insomniac, and Moppet here is in her early teens. Excessive sleeping isn’t unusual.” Lane explained.

“Fine, but she has to start waking herself up, we get enough exercise WITHOUT having to drag her everywhere.” Alexia pointed out.

Lane shrugged philosophically as she put Moppet’s head in the sink and turned on the tap. One very loud shriek later, Moppet had rejoined the world of the living.

Jay and Nya rushed in, assessed the situation, and Jay groaned. “Could you please wake Moppet up in a way that doesn’t make her scream? Every time she wakes up it sounds likes someone is being murdered.”

“Do  _ you _ want to wake her up?” Lane asked. “No, seriously, do you? It would be a huge help, waking Moppet up requires a level of… creativity.”

Jay blanched and rushed out of the room, intent on avoiding any such duties (and possibly planning to acquire a pair of earplugs). Nya just sighed, wondering why in the world she’d fallen for  _ that guy _ .

By this time Moppet had dried her face off and started glaring at Alexia and Lane (mainly at Alexia, because every time she glared at Lane she would receive a scarier glare back). After the two had gone off for morning training, Moppet wandered around the ship until she found Lloyd, who was carefully rigging up a prank for the other male ninja. “What’cha doin?” Moppet asked, somewhat loudly.

“Ah!” Lloyd let go of the rope he’d been holding, causing a large bucket of whipped cream, slime, and who knows what else to land on the two. One moment later, Moppet let out another rather loud shriek, this time attracting Lane’s attention as she was closest.

“Moppet! What happened?” Lane demanded, hands on her hip. She immediately bent down with a wet cloth and began rubbing the gunk off Moppet’s face. Sensei Wu came up from behind Lane, shaking his head.

“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon! What have I told you about pranks?” Sensei Wu asked. Lloyd hung his head.

“To be more creative with them?” Moppet asked.

“To not do them.” Lloyd muttered.

“As the Green Ninja, you should have outgrown these childish things. Now clean up! Both of you!” Sensei Wu shook his head. “I can’t believe you would drag your student into this.”

“But-” Moppet was cut off by a tired sigh from Lane.

“Oh Moppet… I thought I taught you better. You  _ never _ do something that can be traced back to you…”

“But Lane-” Moppet was unable to speak further, as Lane had covered her mouth.

“Now go clean up! I wouldn’t be surprised if Lloyd knocked over a ton of stuff in the kitchen when he was setting this atrocity up.” Lane exited the room, and Moppet made a loud frustrated noise before grabbing a mop from the closet.

“I’ve got this room.” Lloyd told Moppet. He was secretly glad Lane had guessed correctly, as the kitchen was a mess from his experimenting. Moppet shrugged, handed over the mop and returned to the kitchen, groaning at the huge mess splattered across the floor.

Several bottles had been emptied, and different cans of food were pried open on the counters, where they proceeded to drip down the cabinets. Moppet grabbed a trash bag, scooping everything she could in the bag before turning to the cabinets. She rearranged everything before noticing a small gap. Moppet had a little OCD moment on seeing the gap, and in a flash of ‘genius’ realized that Lane’s green skull-and-crossbones-do-not-drink bottle would fit there perfectly. She dashed into the room the girls shared, climbed onto Lane’s bunk, stood on tiptoe and dug the bottle down from it’s ‘oh so secret hiding place’ behind the loose ceiling tile. Moppet then wrote, “Do not drink this please, it might cause mild to severe pain, and Lane will probably find revenge later,” on the side of the bottle, and slid it into place in the kitchen cabinet.

Sighing in satisfaction, Moppet turned to washing off the floor, cabinets and countertops. Thirty minutes later, Moppet walked out, the sparkling kitchen, thoroughly disgusted by Lloyd’s prank. There was what had been called ‘split pea soup’ (leftovers courtesy of one of Cole’s ‘cooking’ nights) under her fingernails and you-don’t-want-to-know-what worked through her hair. When Lloyd had walked in cheerfully, squeaky clean (he  _ had _ taken the easier room, after all), Moppet was  _ furious _ , and prepared to take it out on the only other member of the crew in her weight class. But that is a story, for the sake of Moppet's shiny reputation, we will skip over.

Suffice to say, one hour later an annoyed Lloyd walked into his room, intent on cleaning himself up,  _ extremely  _ upset that somewhere in the cartoon universe, it was determined that as a boy, he could not hit a girl.

Much much later... Or something...

Once Lane had sufficiently shifted the chore list so Cole wouldn’t even have access to the kitchen for the next four to five years, she left for her daily meditation. (She had found a quiet spot to sit... inside the ship’s left wing mechanism). She had chosen this area as it was nearly impossible to get to, and she figured no one would find her there; leave it to the nindroid to prove her wrong, since he showed up two minutes later.

“Might I ask why you have chosen to come here?” Zane asked politely.

Lane contained a groan at the interruption of her ‘don’t touch me or I’ll bite you’ time, but turned to face Zane, “The question is, why isn’t everyone else here, the view is beautiful, although the seating is a bit unsteady.”

Zane was surprised at her answer, but nodded as her statement was a fact. “Perhaps they do not wish to fall to their deaths?”

“Eh, Death isn’t that bad, in some stories, he’s quite friendly actually.”

“Which stories would those be?”

“Discworld, some of Deadpool. If you also count anime, Soul Eater is a prime example.” Lane, noticing Zane was still standing, scooted over as much as she could provided she would not fall off the edge into the clouds (as soft as they looked, she knew not even cartoon physics would save her from becoming a greasy streak on the ground).

“Those sound interesting, but I am afraid I do not know of those stories.” Zane explained.

“Ah, sorry, I suppose you wouldn’t, the stories come from our home.”

The two sat in silence for several minutes, Lane slipping back into her meditation. Like the previous night, Zane studied Lane. As he was only a few inches away, he was able to study her physical features instead of Lane’s reactions. She wore her brown hair short, and the colour wasn’t unlike Moppet’s. On the other hand, Lane’s skin was much darker and she was significantly taller, and not just from her age. In fact, she was nearly taller than Zane, who was almost six feet tall himself. Zane found her increasingly interesting, and began wondering why.

In other, much less dangerous places...

Alexia was in the training room, doing her best to beat the living pulp out of a punching bag. It was proving to be much harder than expected, as the punching bag was much more reinforced than the ones at Alexia’s previous dojo and her left shoulder was still being annoying.

Eventually, Alexia gave up on trying to ignore the painful pangs in her arm every time she punched, and allowed herself a break. Wiping her forehead with a cloth, Alexia found herself worn out and near her physical limits.

“Need something?” Kai, who was also a frequent visitor of the training room, had just come in.

“More stamina?” Alexia replied, flopping on a bench. Her left shoulder was still bandaged, but Alexia had done the same to the other shoulder to draw less attention to the left.

“Well, you guys have been getting better since you got here.” Kai pointed out.

Alexia shrugged and opened her mouth to speak, before being interrupted by the door slamming open as Lloyd sprinted into the room and hid behind Kai. “Keep that demon away from me!” Lloyd squeaked as he cowered behind the older ninja.

Naturally, Alexia expected Lane to come charging in, and so was extremely surprised when Moppet came toddling in. “ _ This _ is what you call a demon?” Alexia snorted.

“Have you seen Lloyd? I think he needs a few more dents in his skull.” Moppet said pleasantly. “He clearly is deficient in common sense, so I’m trying to help him get some.”

“By beating it into him?” Kai asked, somewhat amused by the ‘all-powerful’ Green Ninja cowering behind him.

“Well Mythbusters proved it works, so I’m testing their theory!” Moppet started to move forward only for Alexia to grab her collar.

“Moppet, I don’t care if it’s in the name of science, you are not denting Lloyd’s skull! Have Lane and I taught you nothing?” Alexia sighed.

Lloyd perked up, thinking he had an ally in getting Moppet to stop, only to stare in horror and Alexia and Moppet began discussing torture tactics.

“You see, denting the skull is not only taxing on the person doing it,  _ it’s time consuming _ . So, when in doubt, go for a good-old Tyler slap!” Alexia explained.

“But I’m not a Tyler,” Moppet said, confused, “and it’s  _ hard _ to cause brain damage with a slap.”

“Yes, but slapping is fast, doesn’t exert too much energy, and causes a good level of pain. Also, if you prefer better damage to the limbs, go for the soft spots like the gut or the backs of the knees,” Alexia motioned using Lloyd as a chart. “Here, and right  _ here _ .”

Terrified, Lloyd ran out of the room, and Moppet again tried to chase after him only for Alexia to again tug at the back of Moppet’s suit. “At this point, you’ve done enough. He’s got enough brain damage for three people, including me and Lane.”

“Yes Alexia...” Moppet sighed, letting Alexia escort her out of the room.

Kai contemplated the scene he had just witnessed, and could only shrug.  _ Yup. Definitely weird. _


	7. A Break From Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja stop for a bit to restock, leaving the girls to find their own items.

With no small effort, Moppet was successfully calmed down, mainly through Lane's explanation that her actions were exceptionally un-ladylike, and splattering Lloyd’s brains across the ship would only get her on Santa’s naughty list, which, in a cartoon universe, is no small threat.

The next day, Nya entered the girls’ room the next morning. “The ship’s landed. We’re going to go into the village for supplies in half an hour.”

“Got it.” Alexia mumbled, still half-asleep and annoyed at the intrusion.

Once Nya left, Moppet hopped up, “Can I get a toy or candy or something? Pretty please?”

“Mops, we don’t even have money,” Alexia groaned.

Lane chose this moment to look up, “Actually, that might not be true.”

Alexia blinked, “What?”

Lane sighed, then reached down into her pocket and pulled out a handful of shining coins, then another, and another...

“They just seem to turn up,” she said, shrugging.

Moppet reached into the depths of her own pockets, but only found a few pieces of stale candy. She looked sad for a moment, but then shrugged and ate them anyway. 

Lane gave a knowing look, “And when did you put those in your pocket?”

Moppet paused, “I didn’t...”

“Wait, if you’ve got coins in your pockets, what else have you got in there?” Alexia asked.

Lane shrugged, “We seem to be able to find anything that might be in there normally, the weapons the first time seem to have been a special circumstance…” She reached deeper into her pocket until her elbow nearly disappeared, but suddenly pulled it out, exclaiming, “Ow, something bit me!”

After judicious use of Moppet’s (unwilling) arm, a set of prank dentures were eventually removed (and thrown away) along with several pencils, an impressive array of coinage, and an umbrella. “Ooooookay, how much money did you find in there?” Alexia asked.

Lane just shrugged, “I can’t seem to find much each time I reach in, but it’s always there. I think I got out about fifty bucks over the last few pulls.”

After determining that Moppet had not made off with any coins (“But how else am I going to get more candy,” she protested), Lane and Alexia quickly sorted the coins until each of the older girls had about twenty dollars to spend, and Moppet ten. “Remember, we are NOT spending this on ridiculous stuff. So no, Moppet, we are not letting you buy a dog!” Alexia instructed.

Lane stiffened, her tone very serious. “No. Dogs.”

“Yes Lane,” Moppet said, “this isn’t enough anyway, I was planning on more candy."

Half an hour later, with breakfast in their stomachs (thankfully, Cole had yet to realize Lane’s ‘little arrangement’ with the chore list), the ninja landed in Jamonicai Village. All of them were wearing regular clothing, which for Alexia, Lane, and Moppet meant fandom shirts and jeans. “Busy place.” Alexia noted, as the village was full of people.

“Alright, I’m going with Jay to buy food. We’ll need to meet back here in an hour.” Nya instructed everyone.

Not comfortable with leaving Moppet to an insanely huge crowd, Lane tightly held Moppet’s hand as they walked around. In the end, Moppet tugged Lane to a small candy stall. “Cotton candy please!”

The vendor chuckled, spinning the delicious sugar and handing it over in exchange for three bucks. “Cute sister.” The vendor commented as Moppet fairly smashed her face into the sweet pink ball of candy.

Lane merely nodded, and sighed as she noted Moppet was already a quarter done. “I’m not buying you any more, Moppet, eat more slowly.”

“But Lane...” Moppet whimpered. “It’s sooooooooooo good!”

Alexia had wandered around, passing by people and looking around. “Dammit.” She cursed, wishing she knew where the nearest Gamestop was, if Gamestop existed in this world.

“Need some help?” Alexia whipped around to find Kai behind her. Alexia shrugged.

“Never been here,” she explained, embarrassed. “Is there a video game shop nearby?”

Slightly surprised at the notion of a girl being interested in video games (as his sister despised them), Kai took a moment to think before nodding. “C’mon, I’ll take you there.” Grabbing Alexia’s hand unconsciously, Kai led her to a small, somewhat empty store.

Once inside, Alexia completely ignored the ‘cooking’ and ‘fashion’ games and walked over to the used game compartment. “Weird... Already played... God  _ awful _ graphics... Basically just the last version with a few added bonuses...”

Kai watched, interested as Alexia narrowed down her search to about ten different games out of the seventy in the case. “That your girlfriend?” A store clerk asked.

Turning beet red, Kai shook his head quickly. “Just friends.”

The store clerk raised an eyebrow but said nothing until Alexia shot up. “Okay... either a new installment in  _ Pokemon _ or trying  _ Monster Hunter _ ... I'll take Pokemon, please.”

After paying, Alexia and Kai returned to the meeting spot, finding Lane juggling a pile of purchases while Moppet sat nearby, sucking on a lollipop. “Little help?” Lane requested, trying to put some of her parcels down without breaking anything.

Alexia grabbed one of the heavier bags, and peeked inside to find various chemicals. “Lane, what the heck is in this bag?” 

“Ipecac root and methylparaben. I looked for methylphenidate but couldn’t find any. ” Lane replied.

“And  _ what _ are you going to use them for?” Alexia questioned.

“Nothing...” Lane told her.

After studying Lane, knowing her friend was a horrible liar, and figuring she wouldn’t be on the worst end of it, Alexia accepted Lane’s answer before sitting down.

Nya came with Jay in a few minutes, holding several grocery bags. “I saw a clothing store back there. Do you guys want to get some skirts or anything?”

Instead of replying, Alexia made a horrible, choking/vomiting sound  **(I actually do this when people ask me about things which disgust me)** at the back of her throat. Everyone except Lane and Moppet looked at Alexia worried, and she cleared her throat. “Sorry, I meant to say,” The sound came from her throat again, and Lane sighed, looking vaguely disappointed.

“She means, ‘oh heck no, I would rather be thrown into a pit of boiling oil and/or burn in a casket for eternity,” Lane explained, “she just tends to express this in the rudest form that is publicly acceptable”.

“Oh, and ‘I would rather burn said skirts in hellfire and freeze them in burning ice’,” Moppet added cheerfully, “she’s really quite opinionated.”

“What they said, with significantly more cursing in those sentences.” Alexia clarified.

Looking slightly confused, Nya didn’t bring up the subject again, and soon enough everyone returned to the ship, purchases in hand with the exception of Lloyd and Moppet, who had spent all their money on candy and had completed their sugar binge long before the group had even begun to walk.


	8. A New Training Regimen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Moppet's sugar binge, Lane tries to meditate and is interrupted once again, and Alexia finds herself with more training and bruises.

Moppet and Lloyd finally stopped vibrating, and for the first time in nearly sixteen hours, silence descended upon the ship.

“I am  never letting them shop unsupervised again,” Lane groaned, “Candy usually doesn’t have this dramatic of an effect; the store must have been having a sale.”

Alexia looked at the two ten year-olds, who were unconscious on the couch. Grabbing the nearest ankle, which ended up being Moppet’s, she dragged the child, face down, back to the bedroom, where Lane then proceeded to heave Moppet onto her bunk. “Now, do we wake her up?”

Lane shook her head. “Nah. She can stay out of it for a while, we need a break anyway.” With that, Lane walked over to a chest, dug out a rope and started towards the back of the ship.

“What the heck are you doing?” Alexia asked, confused.

“Meditation,” Lane stated.

“Oh. See you later, I guess.”

At the back of said ship...

...Over the side and  about twenty feet down...

Lane glanced up at the knot that secured the rope to the railing, and once more checked the loop around her waist before relaxing, “Not the best place to meditate, but I doubt anyone will look for me over the side,” she reasoned, before assuming a meditative pose, completely ignoring the several thousand foot drop below her.

One minute and twenty three seconds later…

Zane smoothly rappelled down the side of the Bounty until he pulled even with Lane, who, against all logic, had lowered herself over the side of the ship, and politely inquired, “Are you in need of assistance?”

Lane kept her eyes closed for a few seconds, certain that her condition was just acting up again, before she heard a second inquiry, “Excuse me, but you appear to be conscious, are you in need of assistance?”

Lane opened her eyes, thoroughly peeved at the nindroid who had shattered her dreams of a peaceful afternoon in less than two minutes. “What in the name of Copernicus are you doing here?” Lane demanded.

“I noticed you hanging over the side, and thought you might not be able to get back up to the ship by yourself,” Zane answered.

Lane sighed heavily and turned towards the ship before banging her head into it repeatedly with some force.

Alarmed, Zane quickly grabbed the collar of Lane’s ninja suit, pulling her backwards until the ship was out of reach. “Might I ask why you are trying to deliver brain damage to yourself?”

Lane looked at Zane tiredly, “I came down here in hopes of finding a quiet place where I would not be disturbed; now I am simply giving up and assuming that I will be harder to disturb with an I.Q. more matching your four teammates, who seem relatively cheerful in this environment.”

“The amount of damage necessitated by such an effort would be prohibitive,” Zane reminded her.

Lane sighed, then asked, “How did you find me anyway? I thought I hid myself well…”

Zane nodded, “You did, however you are visible from the wing mechanism, where I had been waiting for you when you had stated you were leaving to meditate.”

“And why would you want to be there while I meditated? I’m sure my meditation techniques are not interesting enough to require observation.”

“You seemed tired, which increased the risk of falling, and if you fell many people on the ship would be quite distressed.”

Lane gave Zane a long look, then shrugged and reassumed her meditative pose, still hanging from Zane’s hand by her collar. After a moment's surprise, Zane lowered her, tied his own rope around his waist, and joined her.

When a loud gong signaled the beginning of dinner, the two jumped, unaware that so much time had passed. When Zane quickly scaled his rope and glanced down, he realized that Lane appeared to be at an impasse, unable to climb more than halfway up her tether before losing her grip. When he again repeated his earlier offer of assistance Lane scowled, but was forced to concede to being hauled up, “Just this once,” she insisted, “I’m only tired, that’s all. I’m sure that I could do this alone… just not now.”

Zane made a noncommittal noise, then calmly towed a disgruntled Lane up the ship’s side, lifting the tired girl over the railing, much to her chagrin. “You do realize this only serves to support my earlier argument, don’t you?” he asked, amused.

“Fine,” grumbled Lane, “I get it, no more meditating without my babysitter, because I am clearly incapable and cannot be left alone even for a moment for fear I could hurt myself.”

“The point is less that you are incapable, I am simply  _ very _ capable, and have more survival training,” He asserted, “But essentially, you are correct.”

Lane made a face, “You do know about sarcasm, don’t you?”

Zane nodded, “However, your sarcastic response was unusually honest about your limitations, which I thought was more important than the intent behind your statement.”

Lane’s scowl did not disappear until long after dinner had ended.

Earlier that day (and from a completely different perspective)...

Alexia was mildly worried as she watched her friend leave with a rope looped over her shoulder, but gathering that: a. she wouldn’t do too much harm to herself since Lane saw herself as Moppet’s substitute mother, and b. Zane had heard Lane as well, she would be fine without any intervention on Alexia’s part. Instead, Alexia looked into Lane’s new chemistry set, making sure there was nothing too potentially explosive. Once she was satisfied that the chemicals in there seemed to not be overly caustic or lethal, Alexia began to replace them, waking Moppet when she dropped several bottles (thankfully made of safety glass, so they did not break).

“I feel weird...” Moppet complained, rubbing her eyes.

“That’s because you and Lloyd went on a sugar rush for sixteen hours. Then you crashed and burned, which led to me and Lane bringing you back here.” Alexia replied.

“Sugar?” Moppet squealed, as the only words she’d picked up through her selective hearing were ‘sugar’ and ‘you’. 

“No Moppet,” Alexia sighed, “There is no more sugar for you. And if you dare try to eat any I will tell Lane to keep you on a sugar-free diet for the next month.”

Terrified at the prospect, Moppet curled into a small ball on her bunk, covering herself with blankets to block out the horrifying words ‘sugar-free’. Groaning, Alexia left the room in favor of the deck, spotting a bow on the side. Back home, she’d taken some archery lessons, and those skills were likely much better than her god-awful sword skills.

Grabbing the bow, Alexia set up a quick target on the mast before shooting. She continued, sometimes hitting the target and sometimes not, until she heard something behind her. “Nice shooting.”

“You kidding? This is barely average.” Alexia responded, not even turning around.

She heard a chuckle from the person behind her. “Better than your awful swordsmanship.” Alexia spun around to find Kai leaning against the wall.

“Oi! You trained for months with yours! I haven’t even started!” Alexia said defensively.

“Want to start?” Kai asked, taking a practice sword from the training room.

Caught off guard, Alexia eyed Kai suspiciously. “Why the sudden offer?”

“Because you should be able to use the weapon you’re carrying, unless you prefer using a bow.” Kai pointed out.

Realizing he had a point, Alexia placed the bow back where she’d found it, and pulled out a matching sword for herself holding still as Kai corrected her stance. “Both hands on the sword, dominant hand to your opponent, and put your dominant foot in front, no, not like that, crouch lower…”

Once Alexia had shifted to the correct position, Kai took up the same one opposite her. “Aim for the head, sword lifted above the head... no, in the middle,” Kai instructed. “Okay, try to hit me.”

Eager to take out her frustration on Moppet for the sugar rush, Lane for disappearing, and Kai for having pissed her off a few days ago, Alexia swung as hard as she could. Unfortunately, this also meant her entire body was wide open, and she found herself sprawled on the floor less than a second later. 

“You let your guard down. Try again,” Kai told her blandly.

Soon enough, a fairly simple pattern developed. Alexia would attempt to hit Kai, and the amount of time in-between her trying to hit him and her falling onto the ground and the number of bruises on her stomach, arms, or legs slowly increased. Eventually, there was a whole second between when Alexia would begin her attack and find herself on the ground. “Is this your way of getting back at me for when we were arguing?” Alexia asked, thoroughly pissed off.

“No.” Kai responded, secretly amused both by her suspicion and her repeated defeats. The ‘bouts’ continued for about two hours until the dinner gong went off, and Alexia nearly threw her practice sword down and went to the girls’ room to take several pain pills.

Since both of the older newcomers were silent (Lane as she was busy being cross with Zane, and Alexia because she tired and sore from her numerous new bruises), dinner was a quiet affair, and everyone went back to their respective rooms with little drama. Moppet immediately curled up in her bed, quietly complaining, “Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today.”

“Mops?” Lane asked.

“Yeah?”

“Quit it with the whining, you had candy today.”

“B-but it was this morning! That’s practically yester-”

“Shut up Moppet!” Alexia interrupted, covering her ears with her pillow and trying to ignore the colorful array of bruises all over her body.

“Yes Alexia...” Moppet sighed, “But-”

“Go to sleep!” The other two girls yelled, and silence  _ finally _ fell over the ship.


	9. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Determined to keep Cole from cooking, Lane puts Plan B into motion, with Alexia and Moppet hoping she never gets to Plan R.

The next day was alarmingly quiet; it was a free day, and Lane had spent all day inside, fiddling with unidentifiable substances in her chemistry set. Moppet and Alexia had fled the room hours earlier, as the fumes produced by whatever mixture Lane was concocting were alarmingly nauseating, but Lane had simply opened a porthole and toughed it out.

Lane’s fun was interrupted in the afternoon, however, when Alexia walked in thoroughly disgusted. “Hey Lane, remember how you changed the chore list so Cole wouldn’t cook for the next few years?”

“Yes...”

“Well, Cole found out... and now he’s cooking breakfast tomorrow.”

“Crud. Looks like I have to advance the schedule on plan B.”

Alexia raised her eyebrow. “Does it involve anyone dying, falling off the ship, explosives, possible property damage, and/or homicide?”

“No, no, no, no, and no, but I do have to admit, I now have an array of new options for plan C.”

“Lane... no. You cannot use those options. Those are reserved for plan X, aka the plan that you won’t get to before I can intervene.”

"But I can’t get past plan R!"

"Then what in bleeding hell is plan R and what kind of plan would Q have to be to lead up to something like that?"

"Respectively, destruction of all organisms which can be classified as ‘living’ on the planet, and destruction of MOST of the organisms which can be classified as ‘living’ on the planet." Lane explained seriously as Alexia shook her head.

“Lane, remember, I told you you can’t plot people’s deaths.”

“Actually, you specifically mandated that all plots for torture, dismemberment, homicide, genocide or xenocide should be limited to Tuesdays.”

"Okay, fine, I get that it's Tuesday, but there is no way you thought of plans A-R in just ONE Tuesday."

"Oh heck no. I through L are left over from last Tuesday, and Q and R belong to a Tuesday last year that I got  _ really _ bored on."

The explanation of Lane's elaborate plans was finished by dinner, which many considered the 'last good meal before disgusting biohazard waste.' However, Lane stayed awake late, putting the finishing touches on Plan B.

"Are you sure your plan will work?" Alexia asked, dozing in her bed.

"I'm 49.2% sure!" Lane responded.

"But sis, that's not even half!" Moppet cried fearfully.

"Fine, I’ll take out the risks which no longer apply..." Lane mumbled, “...52.13% then maybe?”

“Well, that’s slightly more than half... Those are odds we can likely live through.” Alexia muttered, falling asleep.

Lane hummed noncommittally, and continued her (evidently dangerous) fiddling long into the night.

The next morning...

Alexia and Moppet were up at the normal time; Lane, however, was fast asleep on her bunk, snoring softly, and her lab equipment was clean and packed into its box.

“Well, that means Lane succeeded, right?” Moppet asked.

“Probably. I’ve never seen Lane give up for sleep, let alone after just 48 hours.” Alexia replied. walking towards the training area. Planning on having a slice of toast, as no one was cooking breakfast, Alexia ducked into the kitchen and froze; to her astonishment and great distress, Cole was inside, cooking breakfast.

Moppet’s eyes widened and she wobbled for a moment, before collapsing to the floor in a dead faint, obviously overwhelmed by the terror of the situation. 

After checking Moppet for vital signs (still alive and kicking), Alexia went to check on Lane, making sure the girl was actually asleep and not just faking before trying to wake her up for breakfast.

“Lane, since when do you give up on your plans?” Alexia demanded.

The only response Alexia got was a soft groan as Lane rolled over and pulled her blankets closer to herself, oblivious to the waking world. Sighing, Alexia left to go straight to training with the other ninja, who were trying to avoid the kitchen at all costs, as the fumes of the food were producing were simply awful. However, when Alexia poked her head in, she found Cole trying some of the food. He promptly turned white, covered his mouth, and raced towards the bathroom.

“Did... Cole just run for the bathroom?” Nya asked, hopeful.

Rather than answer, Alexia grabbed the pot from the stove, and with the help of Zane and Kai, dumped the contents over the side, hoping whichever fish were forced to eat it would die quickly. “So does this mean Cole’s found out his food is toxic?” Jay asked hopefully.

Moppet, who had heard the good word, began praying. “Our Doctor, who art in the TARDIS. We do not know thy name. Thy TARDIS come, thy will be done, as Earth as it was on Gallifrey. Give us this day our good food...”

“Is she...” Zane began.

“Yes. She prays to the Doctor. It’s the highest authority she knows of, and Lane encourages her as it stops her from being scared of monsters in the night.” Alexia explained.

A clumsy shuffling sound heralded an arrival at the kitchen door as Lane slumped into the room, dark circles under her eyes, “How come Cole’s in the bathroom putting his insides on the outside?”

Alexia rolled her eyes. “Lane, I know you did this!”

“Oi! I only just woke up! I couldn’t have done anything!” Lane defended, looking baffled, “Why are you just up and blaming me?”

“What about last night, when you said you were going to have to ‘advance the schedule on plan B’?”

“I spent half the night cleaning up a chemical spill. You can check, I still didn’t get all of it after four hours.” Lane responded. “Now, if Cole’s out of commission for cooking, I’ll be in the kitchen making breakfast; after all, someone has to.”


	10. Discoveries and Panic Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane's escapades in the last chapter leave her exhausted, the perfect formula for discovery! Right?

The free day was unusual, even for a day on the Bounty. During breakfast, Lane just about passed out into her food (that is to say, Lane passed out, but she fell sideways, and landed on Alexia, sending both sprawling, and Lane was subsequently returned to her bunk by Zane), and Cole had, miraculously, decided to let the girls cook for a while (“Less chores for me,” he declared cheerfully before Alexia traded him all of her deck scrubbing).

While Lane regained her lost sleep, Moppet was in the TV room, trouncing a very upset Lloyd in video games, though he remembered having ‘sense beaten into him’ well enough that he was careful not to lose his temper.

Alexia, however, was back in the training room, trying to beat the punching bag into oblivion. After the bag  _ finally _ broke open, Alexia gave herself a small break before noting that her scar was slightly irritated.

_ Guess it’s official. I’ve been here a week, so either this is the longest dream I’ve ever had or this is... this is real. _ Alexia groaned. Since she had continually gone to sleep expecting to wake up in a different bed, this was both good news and horrible news. Shoving the bad feeling she had to the back of her mind, Alexia grabbed a second bag, tied it to the ceiling, and continued punching. While the others might consider this insane, since by all logic rest days were not for training, Alexia figured she needed as much extra time as she could get to catch up to the ninja. Hell, Lane would have joined her, had she not literally passed out earlier as a result of sleep deprivation.

Naturally, when Kai found Alexia in the training room again, he thought she was completely nuts. “Does the word ‘relax’ mean nothing to you?”

Alexia sighed. “Does the phrase ‘months of training’ mean anything to you?”

Kai shrugged. “Yes, but you have spent more time in  _ here  _ than you have training outside with everyone else.”

“Lane would too, except she’s a little bit… unconscious.” Alexia explained. “That and she takes time to meditate, and I don’t. Moppet... she’s a sugar puff. She falls asleep whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

“You should be spending less time on strength training and more on combat, since that’s what you’ll need to survive the battles coming up.” Kai pointed out.

“Is that your actual opinion, or do you just want another excuse to beat the crap out of me?” Alexia countered.

“Why would I need an excuse to beat the crap out of you?” Kai joked, then ducked as the punching bag swung past his head.

Smirking, Alexia left the training room, knowing she’d probably get payback for that later, but still knowing that was likely the only time she’d ever catch Kai off guard.

Across the ship…

Lane woke up with a splitting headache, and stumbled out of her bunk, searching blindly for the bathroom and it’s nice, friendly,  _ pain-killing _ aspirin. She had been supplementing her meds with a compound she worked out at the chemists, and it worked well enough, although the headaches nearly killed her sometimes and it would only ever work as a supplement to the prescription stuff. 

Walking through the door, she found herself not in the bathroom, but the hallway and, unable to remember why she had wanted the bathroom in the first place, decided to go for a walk, muttering as she held the side of her head.

Lane stumbled like a zombie through the hallway for about five minutes before groggily noticing an open door. Not sure of where she was in any case, Lane shuffled in, assuming that if the room wasn’t hers, the open door implied that someone was in there, and could probably help her find her way back.

Inside Zane’s room...

“Now,” Jay said, connecting two wires in Zane’s chest cavity, “This should fix your little problem, just give me a second to reattach the- aaugh!”

Zane turned toward the door, and saw Lane standing in the doorway, listing to the side at a worrying angle. He opened his mouth to try to explain, forgetting that Jay had not reconnected his voice functions, but Lane blinked, straightened up, and hurriedly wobbled back through the doorway, saying “SorrypleaseforgivemeIdidn’tmeantointrude,” and trying to close the door behind her, however, not fast enough, as Jay had already grabbed her and pulled her back through the door. 

“Look, it’s not what it looks like,” he began, “Well, actually, it is what it looks like, but not in the way that you think. Zane’s not evil or anything, he’s just-”

“A robot?” Lane rubbed her eyes clumsily, “Well, it was kinda clear from the start, see, his speech patterns are entier- entiree- entirely different,” she explained clumsily, “And his gait, see, that’s different too, and from the way the deck boards creak sometimes, he was either fat, which he clearly wasn’t, or carrying around a  _ lot _ of metal,” she added, managing not to stutter. “So he’s got to be a robot, yeah?”

“Uh… yeah…” said Jay, “I thought we did a better job of hiding it.”

“Dunno, guess I just had a lot of time to observe and stuff. Y’know, living with you guys,” she mumbled. “Gosh I’m sleepy.”

For the second time that day, Lane fell unconscious, this time on Zane, who caught her easily, without the inelegant sprawling that had been displayed earlier that day. As Zane gently tried to wake her so she could be walked back to her room (it’s not like he’s just going to carry the girl everywhere), Jay turned to him, “You know, you’ve been really quiet, are you okay?”

Zane gestured at the disconnected tangle of wires hanging from his voice processor. 

“Oh, yeah, that. I should probably fix that shouldn’t I?”

Zane sighed. 

By the time that Zane had been fully re-connected, Lane had woozily re-awakened, and was quietly ushered back to her room. Alexia watched as the boys left the girls’ shared room and hurried in, confused as to what business the ninja would have in there, especially with Lane asleep. 

“Hey Alexia.” Mumbled an unexpected voice next to her.

Alexia immediately turned towards the girl, “Are you okay Lane? Why are you awake?”

Ignoring her friend’s question, Lane struggled into a sitting position, “Zane, you know him, he’s a ninja right?” 

“Yes…” Alexia said slowly.

“You see, he’s not. Well he is actually, I guess he’s both…”

“Both a ninja and a what Lane?”

“A robot.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I think it’s supposed to be a secret or something.”

“Alright then. That does explain why he’s... weirder than the others...”

Lane smiled, mission completed, and quietly went to sleep.

“Wait a second…” Alexia paused, “If you’re asleep, then who’s telling Moppet?” The only response was a snore from the exhausted girl. Groaning at the realization she had to inform Moppet (without alarming the rest of the ship), Alexia went to the TV room, and dragged a somewhat annoyed Moppet by the collar back to the girls’ room.

“I was about to beat Lloyd for the 42nd time!” Moppet complained.

“You can finish your match when I finish explaining something to you. First,” Alexia tied a pillow to Moppet’s mouth. “Okay, now that you’re muffled... Zane’s a robot.”

The resulting scream likely would have caused everyone in a five mile radius to go completely deaf if not for the pillow in Moppet’s mouth. Instead, the only sound heard was a small squeak. Satisfied that Moppet wouldn’t be able to blow out her eardrums, Alexia took the pillow away.

“B-b-but how? That’s not supposed to happen!” Moppet insisted. “What if he kills us?”

“Might I remind you we are in a cartoon?” Alexia pointed out. “And don’t worry, he’s not an evil, people killing robot,”

“Oh.” Moppet mulled over the facts before brightening. “I’m going to go beat the pants off Lloyd again!” She ran off to the TV room, and a groan was heard a minute later as Lloyd lost for the 42nd time.


	11. Inner Hulk and Dark Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moppet decides to display her normally hidden angry side, and Alexia's facade slips long enough for one of her secrets to be discovered.

The following morning began with a much louder gong than normal; while everyone else was busy covering their ears and trying to recover from a sudden loss of hearing, Moppet was completely oblivious, still firmly in dreamland. Even after Sensei Wu rang the gong right beside her ear, Moppet refused to wake up, content to remain unconscious, blissfully in dreamland until she had been deposited in a locked shower, and the water turned on (despite the impressive volume of the gong, the other residents of the ship agreed the resultant noise Moppet produced was far louder).

Once Moppet was coherent enough to operate the lock on the shower door, she exited, firmly disgusted with her sister and friend (no one else made her  _ wet _ to wake her up), however, her mission for revenge was forgotten when she literally bumped into Lloyd, who promptly began laughing.

Moppet glared, the target of her ire had changed to the small,  _ annoying  _ boy, and she was not about to let this insult to her (ruined) dignity pass. Moppet angry.  _ Moppet smash _ .

Lloyd screamed as Moppet attacked him head on, tackling him to the ground and punching and kicking the boy for all she was worth. Even more embarrassingly for Lloyd, he, and the floor, were soaked, and he couldn’t build up enough traction to perform a counterattack. The resulting commotion drew the other residents of the ship to the scene, shocking them as the normally sweet-mannered girl tried (ineffectively) to pummel the much more capable boy, who was inexplicably trapped. After Lane had pried Moppet from Lloyd (long experience with younger relatives had rendered her immune to slipping in convenient puddles on the floor), she set Lloyd on his feet and directed him towards the bathroom to dry himself off, and gave Moppet a scathing glare.

“What are you doing?” Lane demanded. “How many times do I have to tell you, brain damage is messy, not to mention usually permanent!”

“...beating sense into him...” Moppet grumbled, angry at the loss of her target, “...not supposed to laugh at me.”

Realizing that Moppet was still a ticking time bomb, Alexia ran into the kitchen, grabbing some lollipops from Lloyd ‘secret candy stash’, before returning to the hallway and stuffing one of them into Moppet’s mouth. Moppet calmed down rapidly, sucking on the lollipop with a dreamy expression on her face.

After breakfast (where everyone was still walking on eggshells to avoid another scene), training resumed, with only one major change.

“But you have to!” Lloyd insisted. “I’m your teacher, you have to listen to me.”

Moppet coolly ignored the boy, sitting at the edge of the deck, watching the sea pass by beneath the ship. “No, I’m not going on that training course again, I always bump into something, and it hurts.  _ You Can’t Make Me _ .”

Groaning, Lloyd tried to drag Moppet back to the course, “Look, if you don’t go right now, I‘ll get your sister to drag you!”

Moppet snorted in disbelief, refusing to get up. Lloyd, exasperated, left the room and returned with Lane, who immediately walked over to Moppet and set her on her feet. 

“So, what’s wrong?” Lane demanded.

Moppet, to Lloyd’s disbelief, then proceeded to answer her older sister’s question in halting German (at least he thought it was German, sure sounded like it), effectively cutting him out of the conversation. 

Lane turned to Lloyd, “As far as I can tell, she’s calling you a meanie head who has a stone for a brain,” at this point Moppet made an interjection, and Lane sighed, “alright, a jelly donut brain and you either kick or trip over puppies, given her pronunciation, it’s hard to tell.” 

Lane then turned towards her sister, looking stern, “Moppet, I’m actually on his side here, either do the course, or improve on your insults,” She walked away sighing, “Gosh, I thought we taught her better than that.”

Grumbling, Moppet walked towards the course. However, the moment Lane had left the room, Moppet went back to her previous spot and huffed.

“And I mean it!” Echoed in from the doorway, causing a very startled Moppet to rapidly reverse her course and begin her daily training.

Realizing he was in for a very long day, Lloyd facepalmed.

Outside...

“No... Higher! You’ve got to keep up your guard!” Kai instructed.

_ This would be easier IF YOU WEREN’T TRYING TO KILL ME! _ Alexia screamed internally. Soon enough, Alexia ended up back on the ground, swearing in pain. While not impressed with her sword skills, Kai was mildly impressed at her creativity with cuss words.

Getting up for the fifty-something time, Alexia tried to ignore the likely colorful array of bruises on her body as she resumed her stance. “Alright... Try to hit me.” Kai said, bored.

Unlike the last few times, Alexia decided to take a page out of the Mongols’ book of tactics. She charged, but immediately retreated before she got within range. As expected, Kai came after her, exposing his stomach, which became the victim of a hard thrust from Alexia’s practice sword. Kai, surprised by her attack, managed to stay upright though he stumbled backwards, giving Alexia time to put her sword at his throat.

“I do believe I won this round.” Alexia said sweetly.

Narrowing his eyes, Kai hit her sword away. “Try that again.” He gritted through his teeth.

Knowing the same trick wouldn’t work again, Alexia tried to feign a slash on Kai’s left while going for his right. Kai dodged, slashing down as hard as he could for Alexia’s chest.

In a fit of panic, Alexia rushed to block by pulling back her sword. It half worked; while Kai’s thrust missed Alexia’s chest, it was immediately deflected to Alexia’s left arm.

Biting back a yelp, Alexia dropped her sword, holding her arm. “Come on, I didn’t hit you that hard.” Kai snorted.

“Shut up, you * **We’re choosing to let you readers insert the curse, in order to keep this at the rating of T. Suffice to say it includes name-calling.*** ! I told you to never touch my arm!” Alexia countered.

At this point, Kai remembered back to when he’d tapped her shoulder, and quickly realized something was very wrong. He quickly dropped his sword, kneeling by her. “Let’s go inside to the medic room.” Kai offered.

Alexia’s demeanor changed in seconds, becoming defensive. “I’m fine.” She insisted.

“If you were fine, you wouldn’t have dropped your sword and cursed the devil out of hell.” Kai responded. “You can walk there willingly, or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you.”

Knowing that she was at a disadvantage and preferring to not look like an idiot, Alexia obediently followed Kai to the medical room, where he got out bandages. “Can you roll up your sleeve?”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Kai groaned. “Stop being stubborn and just roll it up. I’m helping you whether you like it or not.”

“Why don’t  _ you _ stop being stubborn and let me do it myself?”

“There are straps on the table, and if you don’t stay still and let me bandage your arm I will use them.”

Finally, after bickering for another five minutes, Kai managed to roll of Alexia’s sleeve. His eyes widened as he took in the large, now red scar. “ _ This _ is what you call nothing?”

“It’s six years old.” Alexia retorted, now telling the truth.

“You clearly didn’t let it heal properly.”

“I wasn’t exactly in a situation to let it heal properly!”


	12. Stubbornness and Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexia and Kai may be stubborn, but don't forget the young, angry child in training!

“I wasn’t exactly in a situation to let it heal properly!” Alexia’s mouth was moving quicker than her brain, and immediately she regretted speaking.

“What do you mean, ‘not in a situation to let it heal’?” Kai asked.

“Nothing you need to know.”

Giving up, Kai grabbed the bandages on the table and began wrapping up Alexia’s arm. Having expected a very tight, uncomfortable wrap that she would have had to redo later, Alexia was surprised at the fact Kai was able to wrap her arm gently enough that it didn’t hurt, but securely enough so if it got hit again she wouldn’t feel it.

“There. Can you stop being so stubborn now?” Kai requested, exasperated.

“I’ll go with no.” Alexia got off the table, but stopped at the door. “Thanks...”  _ for caring _ . She added silently.

Kai nodded, putting away the bandages before exiting the medic room. Nya, who had seem Alexia walk by, looked at her brother. “Why were you two in the medical room?”

“Accident in training.” Kai groaned. “God, Alexia is more stubborn than anyone I’ve ever met!”

“I can think of someone as just stubborn.” Nya smiled. “And that someone is you.”

“What?! I am  _ not _ stubborn!”

Nya snorted. “Kai, before I met Alexia, I was confident you were the most stubborn person in the world. Now I’m confident you and Alexia are tied for that honor.”

“I am not stubborn.” Kai grunted, walking away.

Elsewhere...

Moppet wasn’t walking, she was sliding.

Backwards.

Dragged by the hood.

She wasn’t walking, and she considered that a victory.

“Moppet!” protested Lloyd, “Come on! I have to train you, if you don’t even try, Sensei will yell at both of us!”

Moppet remained silent. Sensei reminded her in a distant way of her own grandfather, and ever since she realized this, she could not even take him seriously, let alone fear him (her grandfather had collected ceramic hippos of all shapes and sizes, and made them into an indoor mini golf course).

Angry, tired, and frankly fed up that Moppet refused to listen to him unless there was a teenager or adult in the room making her obey, Lloyd stopped dragging Moppet, going inside of the ship and hauling out Zane. “ _ Please _ help me with her!”

Very fortunately for Lloyd, and very unfortunately for Moppet, Moppet was still somewhat terrified at the idea of a robot, so the moment she saw Zane, she squeaked in fear, hurling herself towards the training course. “Might I ask why my assistance was needed?” Zane inquired.

“Just please stay here until we’re done.” Lloyd begged.

Zane obliged, bemused, and Moppet, though deeply embarrassed that she  _ still _ couldn’t get through the training course, continued her training with no complaint through the rest of the afternoon. The moment the dinner bell rang however, Moppet raced into the ship, and soon enough an angry Lane came in, holding her sister’s hand.

“Zane,” She began, clearly enraged, “how dare you scare Moppet, she ran to me crying about being pushed around all day by you two!”

Zane blinked, confused, “All I did was stand here.”

Lane paused for a moment, clearly stunned, then turned her ire on her sister, “Moppet, how dare you treat people differently for how they were born. It’s more than just rude, you’ll only show yourself to be a prejudiced coward, and...”

The boys could only stare as a fierce lecture was delivered to the previously recalcitrant girl, and then slowly retreated towards the dining room, hoping to avoid being included in her wrath.

By the time Moppet and Lane returned to the dining room, Moppet was sniffing and ran towards Alexia, who immediately looked to Lane. Lane sighed, while Moppet curled up next to a confused Alexia. “Might I ask why Moppet’s clinging to me instead of you?”

“Meanies...” Moppet whispered.

“Lectures,” Lane responded.

While everyone else remained somewhat baffled, Alexia merely nodded and allowed Moppet to hang on to her for the rest of dinner before requesting the assistance of Lane and Kai to detach Moppet. The child then glared at Lloyd with an intense hatred, causing Lloyd to gulp.

“I, uh, gotta go for... uh... a walk...” Lloyd stammered, obviously confused by the terror the previously harmless girl could inspire.

The next morning...

Once again, Moppet found herself the victim of a, ah,  _ creative _ method for waking her up. However, when she came out of the bathroom soaking wet (there are all  _ sorts _ of interesting things you can do with a sink), Moppet found a somewhat scared Lloyd waiting for her. “What do you want?” Moppet demanded, irritated and expecting Lloyd to laugh at her again.

“I... look... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed at you-” he began, then was spurred on by the look of incredulity on Moppet’s face, “lookhere’sapeaceofferingnowstopattackingme!”

Moppet blinked as she found a fluffy pink piglet hovering an inch from her nose, then acted on instinct, grabbing and cuddling the object with a vengeance, “I will hug you and squeeze you and call you... Mr. Snuffles!” she declared, skipping out of the hallway.

Lloyd jumped a moment later as a hand fell on his shoulder, and spun around to see Lane standing behind him. 

“Well, looks like you’re in the clear now. She’s forgotten the whole thing,” She declared.

“What, just like that?”

“Yup, she’s entirely focused on… Mr. Snuffles now. When she comes out of the toy-induced haze, the joy associated with her little friend will far outweigh any wrongs you have done her, so memories of behaviour associated with negative emotions will be ignored so thoroughly they might as well not be there.”

“...Why didn’t you tell me this would work at the beginning?”

Lane blinked, “That wouldn’t have been any fun at all.”


	13. Illness and Substitution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lane waking up sick, Moppet rises to the task of performing as Lane, to some interesting results...

The next morning the ship’s occupants woke up in an  _ interesting _ way. It involved a thunderous bout of coughing from the girls’ room. A coughing fit which woke up even Moppet.

Alexia scrambled out of bed, having not recognized the sound, and grabbed her katana from under her bed. She was promptly greeted by another rattling cough from the bunk beside hers. Sighing and belting her katana at her hip, Alexia grabbed a box of tissues from the closet. “How many boxes of tissues have you been through since last night Lane?”

Lane looked up. She was miserably sick, fully congested, exhausted and surrounded by used tissues. She grimaced and held up two fingers.

Moppet looked over and sighed, “Laryngitis again?” she asked understandingly, “I’ll get the yogurt.”

Alexia put her hand on Lane’s forehead and sighed. “How the hell did you get  _ this _ sick in one night? All you were yesterday was sleepy!”

Moppet walked back into the room with another few boxes of tissues and some soft foods (easier on throats rubbed raw by coughing), “This is nothing, she developed a fever of 103 and fell unconscious in the span of a theater performance,” Moppet commented, “She went in perfectly healthy too.”

Expectantly, Zane raced in, having woken up to the loud coughing. “Might I ask what is going on?” He questioned, breathless.

Lane waved. “She’s sick with... what was it Moppet?” Alexia asked.

“Laryngitis, but that’s her condition, not a disease.”

“Yeah, what she said. Got any medicine for that?”

He blinked, stunned by this  _ capable _ side of Moppet, but nodded. “We should have some cough medicine in the medical room.”

“Okay, I’ll grab that. We might not want to stay in the room since Lane could get us all sick.” Alexia pointed out.

Moppet shrugged, “She actually doesn’t usually infect anyone, she’s considerate like that.” Moppet said, sitting on Lane’s bed and checking her temperature. “It’s really nice that she’s so careful, she gets sick a  _ lot _ .”

Lane mumbled miserably beside her, but made no protest beyond that. Moppet handed Lane the first container of yogurt, along with a few fresh boxes of tissues.

Alexia soon returned with the strongest cough medicine she could find, pouring a small amount into a measuring cup for Lane. “Any idea how long this is going to last, Moppet?”

“She’ll probably be stuck not talking for two or three days, and be well again by the end of the week, if we’re careful,” Moppet said absently, “Now if you’ll please excuse me...” she left the room, walking towards the kitchen.

Zane watched the young girl walk out of the room, thoroughly confused at the fact Moppet was now focused and wide awake without the need for water or some other assistance from the girls. Alexia ignored it, walking to the dining room; she knew Moppet would be fine.

Later that morning...

All of the ship inhabitants, except for Moppet, and Lane who was sleeping, met in the dining room and were greeted by warm plates of food. As most of them were half asleep, no one really noticed Lane was missing until Nya looked up. “Wait, where’s Lane?”

“In bed, asleep. She’s sick.” Alexia explained.

“Wasn’t it Lane’s day to cook?” Kai asked slowly. Everyone looked down at the food with trepidation before looking at each other, desperately trying to reassure themselves that their infectious shipmate had not made breakfast. Suddenly, Moppet walked in, a huge plate of pancakes in her hands.

“No need to stop eating on my account,” Moppet said cheerfully, “there’s more where that came from.”

“You can cook?” Cole asked, suspicious.

“Well of course, anyone can! There are clear instructions in cookbooks, and Lane’s annotations are impressively specific.” Moppet returned to the kitchen and came out with a cookbook open. The page was nearly black with tiny writing along the the outer borders of the pages, and each block of handwritten text was clearly linked to a section of the simple recipe, “Most of it is just explaining what consistency it means when it says things like ‘until smooth’, but even an idiot can cook as long as they read carefully.”

“Geez, no wonder I couldn’t read the recipe last time.” Cole muttered.

“Oh no, you’re the very rare exception to the rule,” Moppet said matter-of-factly. “You couldn’t cook if someone was moving your hands for you.”

Cole glared at Moppet while everyone else sniggered, excluding Zane as he felt it would be impolite.

Moppet smiled politely again, snagged a pancake and returned to the kitchen, while Cole looked around the room and asked, “Does she always insult my cooking behind my back?”

Alexia snorted into her milk, laughing. “Who needs to do it behind your back? Your cooking sucks. She and Lane have a wide range of insults when it comes your cooking, and they’re not at all shy to voice them.”

Once breakfast was finished, Moppet again surprised everyone by cleaning up the table and requiring no help with the dishes. This surprise, however, was taken to a new height when during training Moppet was able to flawlessly complete the training course.

Lloyd took one look at Moppet and asked, “Okay, did someone replace Moppet in the middle of the night?”

“Of course not! Just because I am capable does not mean I am not Moppet Julia Smith. I  _ am _ related to Lane.” Moppet pointed out, exasperated. Everyone looked to Alexia, who sighed.

“Look, the last time Lane explained it to me…” Alexia began, “Just a second, does anyone have a whiteboard?”

Confused, Nya brought out a whiteboard, and Alexia started drawing furiously. A minute later, Alexia capped the marker and showed the details of the drawings to everyone. “Okay, so Lane and Moppet are both related and grew up in a relatively well-balanced family without favoritism, and so both are equally capable and responsible. Lane, however, is so thoroughly capable that for the most part Moppet grew up knowing she never had to bother with sensible things. Now, though, as Lane is out of commission. So Moppet takes it upon herself to be extra capable to make up for Lane. Any questions? There are no dumb questions.”

Jay raised his hand. “Is this even possible?”

“That’s a dumb question. Any more?” When no one said anything, Alexia smiled. “Good, I hate questions.” She put away the whiteboard and marker, though Kai raised his eyebrow.

“Wait, if you were ‘out of commission’, would Moppet act like you?”

“Oh  _ hell _ no. Have you seen how profane I am? They’re way too polite.” Alexia responded.

Training continued for the rest of the day, with Moppet continually surprising Lloyd with her sudden ability to, well, fight. At some point late in the day Alexia checked in on Lane, and found Moppet taking care of her older sister, mainly in handing over boxes of tissues and soft foods. “Any better?”

Lane shook her head. “She’s doing well for laryngitis, but it’s going to be a while before she can talk.” Moppet explained.

“Yeah, I remember when she was sick at Christmas and could only talk through texting,” Alexia noted.

Moppet gave her the  _ look _ (you all know the look, you have all faced it once) and said disapprovingly, “That’s only because you interrupted her when she tried to write it on a notepad.”

“Touche.”

Zane poked his head in, first making sure Lane had not died. Once he was sure she was still alive, he spoke. “Do you need me to prepare dinner?”

“Sure. Just keep Cole  away from the kitchen.” Moppet replied.

“Didn’t we scare him away?” Alexia asked.

“You can never be too sure, especially given his outburst this morning,” Moppet said firmly, punctuated by an equally firm nod from Lane.

Though he completely agreed with the girls about Cole’s impressive lack of ability in cooking, Zane chose to remain silent on the matter, going to the kitchen and carefully making a dish which even Lane with her incredibly sore throat could swallow.


	14. A Return to Normalcy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane is healthy again, leading to Moppet returning to her normal fluffy self while Alexia finds a new meaning in her sword practice.

A week had passed, and as Moppet had predicted, Lane had rapidly recovered, and Moppet had returned to her normal, lovably useless self. 

“It was almost nice when she could actually complete the training course,” sighed Lloyd, “but it’ll be fun to have my friend back. She got so  _ weird _ when she looked at Mr. Snuffles, and she hasn’t hugged him in days…”

“Hey, Moppet, can you make breakfast?” Nya asked. “Your sister still needs rest.”

“Okay!” Moppet toddled off, only for Alexia to suddenly blanch.

A blur rushed past the group from the girls’ room towards the kitchen as the group heard an innocent ‘oops’ from the kitchen before suddenly a shout rang through the ship.

“NoMoppetDon’tPourWaterOnItThat’sAGreaseFire!” 

A fireball blew out the kitchen door, and there was a pause before Lane’s voice resumed it’s tirade, “What were you thinking Moppet, I thought we covered kitchen fire safety rules last time, I’m not cleaning it up…”

“But Lane… I don’t want to, you know it’s hard to get soot out of the ceiling…”

“Yes I do know, I had to scrub it last time, now mush.”

Kai looked at Alexia, “Shouldn’t Lane be more concerned about Moppet?”

“Eh, Moppet’s fine, and Lane  _ really _ hates scrubbing soot of ceilings.” She shrugged.

“Wait, Lane said ‘last time’. Has this happened before?” Zane questioned.

“This tends to occur whenever Moppet cooks. It’s why Lane’s very annoyed with Moppet, as this is the third time I’ve seen this, but I get the feeling I missed a few of Moppet’s less dramatic… incidents.” Alexia replied.

Moppet ended up cleaning the ceiling with Lloyd’s assistance (procured via puppy face). By the time they had finished, it was afternoon, where Moppet continually got halfway through the course only to be hit by an obstacle and knocked out of the course.

Outside, Kai was instructing Alexia, who was desperately trying to win more than one bout out of thirty (against a better-trained opponent, a perfectly respectable score). Unfortunately, at this phase Alexia had used every underhanded trick she’d learned about in history and a few she’d made up herself. So naturally the bout going on at this point ended when Kai slammed the pommel of his blade into Alexia’s gut. Exhausted and sore all over, Alexia groaned.

“Can we  _ please _ take a break? If we do another match I think you’ll displace my internal organs.”

“Fine, it’s near dinner anyway.” Kai took Alexia’s practice sword while Alexia sat down against the railing, groaning in relief. “Does your arm still hurt?”

“I told you it’s fine.” Alexia muttered. “Right now I’m more concerned about my vital organs, which may or may not have been bruised.”

Kai rolled his eyes, yet chuckled at the memory of the last few triumphs against her. The dinner gong rang a few minutes later, and dinner was a somewhat normal affair as Lane had made sure both Cole and Moppet were very far away from the kitchen during the cooking, and had produced a relatively palatable meal despite the soap dripping from the ceiling as it was scrubbed.

The next morning...

Moppet was very firmly equal opportunity. She had  _ always _ believed that everyone was deserving of a fair chance, and was worth just the same as everyone else. She didn’t discriminate. Thus, when Moppet woke an hour before the gong was rung, she determined that both of her roommates were equally deserving of the chance to be doused with cold water first thing in the morning, especially when she had Lloyd to help carry buckets. 

“MOPPET!” Lane screamed, outraged as she stumbled, shivering, out of her soaked bed. 

Alexia very calmly got out of bed and drew out her sword. “ _ Run _ .” She hissed.

Realising they had just made an enemy who was not in the least afraid of chopping them to pieces, Lloyd and Moppet screamed in horror and began running away from the angry, crazy sword-wielding girl who happened also be much bigger than them.

Lane blinked, impressed, “That was an exceptional burst of speed for such short legs,” she observed, drying herself with the towel placed on her nightstand (Moppet also believed in equal opportunity drying).

Zane ran to the girls’ room, having heard the screams, and noticed Alexia chasing the two eleven year-olds around the ship. “Should we cease this?”

“Oh heck no. This is comedy gold.” Lane replied, watching as Alexia tried to corner Lloyd.

Quickly the entire ship was up, and for a few minutes everyone just watched the amusing chase, which seemed to come to a close when Alexia had Lloyd and Moppet cornered in the kitchen. Instead of using her sword, however, Alexia picked up a very heavy cookbook and began swinging it at both children.

“IF YOU DARE WAKE ME UP WITH WATER AGAIN UNLESS SPECIFICALLY TOLD TO BECAUSE OF AN EVENT INVOLVING THE FANDOMS, I WILL PERSONALLY PUNT YOU TWO OFF THE SHIP! UNDERSTOOD!?” Alexia bellowed.

“Yes ma’am,” Lloyd and Moppet squeaked.

Satisfied, Alexia put down the cookbook and changed out of her soaked outfit, pleased that the two eleven year-olds were still edgy for the rest of the day.


	15. Prank Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prank war commences on the Bounty, who will win?

Moppet awoke with a start. Normally, as it was a rest day, she slept until noon when the smell of lunch came to the girls’ room. Now, however, Moppet looked down, knowing something was terribly wrong before wailing in terrified dismay, Mr. Snuffles, who had been cuddling with Moppet when she’d gone to sleep, was nowhere to be seen.

A single name came to her mind and Moppet leapt off her bunk. Her target was in the hallway nearby, debating on what to train Moppet in next (over the past few weeks, Moppet had gotten better at the training course to the point where she completed it 10% of the time). Lloyd found himself facing a very angry Moppet and gulped audibly.

“Where. Is. MR. SNUFFLES?!” Moppet demanded.

“I-I don’t know!” Lloyd insisted, not wanting another scene. “W-why would I t-take him?”

“‘Cause you’re a meanie head with a jelly donut brain who kicks puppies!”

“I swear I didn’t take him! That’s the only reason you haven’t attacked me lately and have been listening to me! Maybe one of the guys took it, it’s prank week...” Lloyd said, baffled at the slightly garbled insult (which made no more sense in English than it did in German).

Moppet stilled. “Prank... week?”

Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, the week of the year we get off and use to prank each other until someone wins...”

Pursing her lips, Moppet turned. “Stay here.” Lloyd froze, confused and terrified.

After questioning all of the boys (Alexia would never take it away, Nya had refused to participate at all, and Lane would never admit to it), Moppet found Jay was the only one with any knowledge of the whereabouts of Mr. Snuffles. “I thought I saw the toy on the deck.”

Moppet looked out onto the deck, seeing the obviously laid prank. She nodded before launching herself at Jay and beginning to claw out his eyes. “MR. SNUFFLES IS ALWAYS A LOW BLOW!” Moppet cried, scratching at Jay’s face. It took Lane, Alexia, and Kai fifteen minutes to stop laughing at the squealing Jay before Nya proceeded to scold them and had them help her tug Moppet off Jay.

“What’s this about a prank war?” Alexia questioned, curious.

“It’s this stupid competition. I got pranked with flour earlier.” Nya explained.

Lane and Alexia traded glances before smiling softly. “We’ll... be in our room.” The pair took off, tugging Moppet with them.

There was a moment of silence between the siblings left behind before Kai spoke. “This ought to be interesting.”

Two hours later...

Moppet had declined the offer of boys against girls, as she had chosen to work with Lloyd on the condition they take out Jay first (it took four hours for Jay to work the chemicals out of his newly dyed hair, which was a particularly nauseating shade of green).

“Mysterious substance A?” Alexia asked, clipboard in hand.

“Check.” Lane placed each of the items on the bed.

“Mysterious substance B?”

“Actually, it’s sneezing powder, but check.”

“Mysterious sub-oh, glue?”

“Check.”

“Pies?”

Lane sighed. “Why must we waste perfectly good pies?”

“They’re Cole’s. Nya said they were a combination of his chili and vomit... or something like that.”

“Oh. Then check!”

“Then we’re ready!” Alexia put the board down. “Remember, boys first, then we knock out each other.”

“Done. And...” A shout ran through the ship. “I think we just took down our first target.” Lane smiled.

“Glue toilet seat... check.” The two girls left the room quietly with their items, noting that Cole was now stuck in the bathroom. Both were on high alert, and jumped when they heard a large explosion followed by Moppet’s yell of surprise.

Lane sprinted to the room in question, finding Lloyd and Moppet covered in shaving cream. The two  _ had _ been glaring at each other, but were now laughing together at their appearance. “You two pranked each other?”

Moppet nodded happily while Lloyd rolled on the floor laughing. “Kids will be kids.” Alexia noted. Once they were out of earshot, Lane turned to Alexia.

“That leaves Kai and Zane. You take out Kai, I’ll take out Zane.”

“Done.” Alexia went to the training room, spending a good half hour setting up the barbells so they were covered in sneezing powder. When she finished, Alexia began to patiently wait.

Unfortunately for her, Kai had figured Alexia would come into the weight room sooner or later. As such, when she got bored and decided to leave, Alexia pushed a certain trip wire. A large, fake but realistic looking spider dropped from the ceiling. Shrieking in horror, Alexia ducked before hearing a certain male laughing.

“You... asshole!” Alexia yelled.

“Come on, that was funny.” Kai told her, chuckling.

“I’ve have bad experiences with spiders! Those...  _ things _ are creepy,” Alexia shuddered.

Kai threw up his hands. “Okay, I’m sorry.” He left, and Lane poked her head in.

“Do I need to avenge you?” She questioned.

“...Nothing permanent. Just something he’ll always remember... so he’ll never do it again.” Alexia replied.

Two minutes later...

Returning to the guys’ room to grab a few things for pranks, Kai stopped to slip on his shoes. He got up, taking a step... and promptly fell on his face. Grunting, Kai got to his feet and continued walking, though he found himself slipping and sliding. After falling another six times, Kai got back up to find Alexia laughing behind him.

“I thought you were out,” Kai groaned.

“I asked Lane to ‘avenge’ me.” She explained, leaning against the wall.

“What, does she have voodoo powers?”

Alexia paused, puzzled. “Honestly, you can never be sure with Lane. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if she had little dolls of every single person she’s met, just in case. Heck, I’d be disappointed if she didn’t have at least three dolls per person.”

“Why?” Kai then raised his hand. “Actually, I don’t want to know.” He tried to stand, only to slip and fall once again.

At this point Alexia noticed how the bottom of Kai’s shoes seemed to have small shiny patches on them. “I’m guessing she put grease on your shoes, given the smell and what’s on the bottom of your shoes.”

Taking off his shoes, Kai made a face and sighed. “Yup.”

Elsewhere...

Lane went into the laundry room, scheming. She grabbed the box of detergent, emptying all of it into a canister for herself. After which, Lane filled the box with mysterious substance D, whistling to herself quietly. Once this task had been completed, she went to the control room.

Immediately Lane noticed a very elaborate, yet subtle prank. It involved several trip wires, buckets, weights, and two canisters of pepper spray. She thoughtfully studied the contraption before smiling. Lane proceeded to pick her way through the room, triumphantly gaining access to the other end.

Her moment of glory was swiftly ruined by a large amount of water spilling on her, followed by the pail which had held the water. Lifting the bucket off her head, Lane began to clap. “Well, there are only two people near intelligent enough to pull this off, and one of them was knocked out with hair chemicals too early to have put this together.” She looked up and spotted two motion sensors. “Definitely Zane.”

Dinnertime...

“Well, that was quick.” Nya remarked. Alexia was cooking with Lloyd’s help (mainly she had him lift stuff and forbid him to touch the food), so the others were sitting in the dining room. “Normally it runs all week.”

Cole snorted. “Because this time people were cheap! It took an hour for the glue to wear off and the toilet seat to fall off.”

“But you didn’t have to yank the toilet seat off the toilet.” Kai pointed out, smirking.

“At least  _ you _ don’t have green hair.” Jay muttered. He was currently wearing a baseball cap to hide his shame.

“I thought it was an interesting experience. I have to admit, even if Zane hadn’t put motion sensors directly after his prank, I would’ve walked back into it!” Lane said.

“Why?” Everyone simultaneously asked.

“Because it was such a well-executed prank! It would have taken about 3.2 hours to set up, which would have made it a waste to not get caught in it. Besides, normally I’m the only one who goes to such lengths; Alexia prefers to be simplistic.” Lane replied, smiling at Zane. “Well done, Zane.”

Zane found himself grow warm, which was exceedingly odd concerning he was a robot. He made a mental note to ask Jay to check his circuits later, since the last repair might have damaged something.

“Dinner!” Alexia laid out several sausages on a platter, complemented by bowls of mashed potatoes and dishes of vegetables.

Kai raised an eyebrow when Alexia sat next to him. “I thought I was an asshole.” He whispered quietly enough so only she could hear.

“Eh. Slip of the tongue, and asshole is one of my lesser insults.” She explained with similar volume. “Ironically, one English class had us make insults.”

“Like?”

“Pig-headed moron. My personal favorites are  _ baka _ ,  _ asshead _ , and most importantly  _ shit-faced demon spawn _ .”

Chuckling quietly, Kai added this conversation to the list of reasons Alexia was not an average girl.


	16. Repairs and Inquiries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane finds himself asking Jay for advice, and Lane's final prank delivers its' damage.

The remaining days off were fairly uneventful, minus the fact the male ninja seemed to have a problem with their ninja suits being... off in some way. In fact, the largest event seemed to be when Alexia, after weeks of searching,  _ finally _ found a website which sold Otaku magazine subscriptions.

Near the end of the rest week, Zane went to Jay. “Are you sure the last repair did not damage any parts of my circuitry?”

Jay shrugged. “It’s never happened before. Why?”

Zane paused, trying to figure out how to describe the phenomenon. “I... experienced a slight change in heating earlier in the week.”

“You overheated?”

“Yes, but it lasted for only a few moments.”

“Let’s check it out, we don’t want you to die out during a fight.”

One hour of searching later, Jay sighed. “I can’t see anything wrong! I checked everything, and against your blueprints you’re in good shape.”

“Did you check my internal digestive system?”

“First thing I did, it’s working perfectly.”

“Gears? A spark may have heated something.”

“All of them are greased and rust-free. What happened when you overheated, anyway?”

Silence followed, as Zane tried in vain to word the fact he’d overheated when Lane had complimented him and smiled at him. Finally, Zane switched the subject. “When you first had... feelings for Nya, what did you feel?”

Jay gave Zane a funny look. “Why do you ask?”

“I merely wish to compare reactions, as Alexia and Kai seem to act completely differently even though they work well together,” Zane lied smoothly (truthfully, he  _ had _ noticed how the two were a match, though both were far too stubborn to admit it).

Snorting with laughter, Jay nodded. “With Nya... I wanted to be around her all the time. I wanted to impress her and make her smile. When I was with her, it gave me butterflies in my stomach and sometimes made it hard to talk. Oh, and I got  _ really _ protective of her and wanted to keep her safe.”

Nodding slowly, Zane calculated that he had about 87.58% of the same reactions when he was around Lane. “Thank you. I think it must have been something rare when I overheated.” Zane got off the table which he sat on while Jay did repairs on him. “Also, it seems we both agree that Kai and Alexia make an...  _ interesting _ pair.”

Jay laughed again. “Nya said they’re the most stubborn people in Ninjago, and she wasn’t wrong. Kai’s the only person I know to hold grudges for days, and only a stubborn as a mule person would spend weeks looking for the one website which holds a magazine subscription to an obscure magazine.”

Elsewhere...

Alexia was diving into her Otaku magazine (the mailing system in Ninjago was  _ really _ fast, since she’d gotten her issue the day after she’d ordered it via flying-bicycle postman) when Lane came in, hurrying to a chest near their beds. “Going to meditation?”

“Yup.” Lane took out climbing gear, resulting in Alexia raising an eyebrow.

“I thought you already tried to the top of the mast, and Zane caught you there thirty seconds later.”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Why not try the left wing mechanism again? He might not look there since you’ve already gone there.”

“Nope, he found me after twenty three seconds.”

“Then where on the ship are you meditating?”

“The bottom,” Lane replied simply, exiting the room. Alexia stared at her friend’s retreating figure before sighing.

“Not going to even bother,” She muttered, going back to reading a review on Persona 4.

At the side of the ship...

Lane quickly pulled on her climbing gear before surveying her surroundings. “Even a robot has to take five minutes to put on gear! I’ll have five minutes of peace!” She declared happily, descending to the bottom of the ship...

...only to find Zane already there, having been waiting for her. “The temperature down here is pleasant, a nice 76°,” He smiled.

Gasping for air from surprise, Lane stuttered, trying to word a sentence. “But-what-you’re- HOW?!”

“I noticed you putting on climbing gear, and concluded that after the top of the mast, the only logical place was the bottom of the ship.”

“But  _ how _ did you get here first?”

“There is a maintenance hatch which leads to the bottom, accessible from the hold.” Zane pointed out the now extremely obvious hatch in the ship’s hull.

Groaning, Lane facepalmed. “I give up. You’re going to follow me to any quiet place, aren’t you?”

“As each time you have put yourself in some danger and may require assistance, yes, I will follow you.” Zane had carefully formulated his answer as a way to deny that he wanted to be around Lane, thus knocking the similarities between the way Jay had felt toward Nya down to 63.94%.

Lane grunted. “Fiiiiine.”

Later...

With everyone except Lane assembled in the dining room, Cole stood up. “Okay, who messed with the detergent?!”

“I thought that was you!” Kai said.

“Wasn’t me, I got knocked out with hair coloring chemicals, remember?” Jay grumbled, though the coloring had gotten out the previous day.

Everyone there except Sensei Wu looked at Zane, who shrugged. “I spent all of the day setting up the prank in the control room.”

“Why are you guys arguing? There’s nothing wrong with the detergent.” Alexia said, confused.

“Yes there is! It made our ninja suits itch like hell,” Lloyd muttered.

“Actually, that was me,” Lane admitted, poking her head in from the kitchen.

“You?!” The boys shouted.

“I did it  _ just _ before I got knocked out. I replaced the detergent with mysterious substance D, itching powder,” Lane explained. “The reason Alexia, Moppet, Nya and I aren’t affected is because I put the detergent in a different container and used it for our loads.”

“So that’s why you offered to do our laundry,” Nya remarked.

“Yup! Guess everyone got pranked in the end,” Lane sang, though all the boys except Zane gave her the evil eye for the rest of the evening.


	17. Meditation and Irritation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Lane meditates in the girls' room after kicking Alexia and Moppet out, Alexia finds her rest day continually disturbed by just about everyone.

The last rest day featured Alexia and Moppet planning on spending most of the day in the girls’ room, with Alexia finishing her Otaku magazine and Moppet playing with Mr. Snuffles. However, this was interrupted when Lane entered the room.

“OUT.” She ordered.

“What?” Alexia and Moppet asked, surprised that Lane was not being her normal polite and dignified self.

“Out. Dehors. Salida. アウト. Aus. Must I say it in Klingon?!” Lane demanded.

“You speak Klingon?”

Lane looked at Alexia and sighed. “I am a Star Trek fan. Of course I do.”

“Oh. Wait,  _ why _ do you insist on us leaving?”

“I’ve had enough of this!  _ Every. Single. Time. _ I have tried to find a quiet place to meditate, I have been interrupted! So today, I AM MAKING A QUIET SPACE. Now, as previously said... OUT!” Lane forced her best friend and sister out of the room before slamming the door.

Moppet turned to Alexia. “Should we be worried?”

Alexia sighed. “Just don’t go in there; I prefer having my head  _ on _ my body, and Lane will either rip it off or throw us out head first if we go back into the room. I’ll slip food under the door so she won’t starve.” She headed off to the common room to read, while Moppet decided to hang out in Lloyd’s room since he was in the middle of a handheld video game and didn’t mind her presence.

Unfortunately, Alexia was doomed to not finish her Otaku magazine that day. An hour after going to the common room, Jay popped his head in. “Hey, do you know where Lane is? Since she took robotics, I figure she can help repair the sparring bot.”

“Don’t bother her. She’s  _ really _ cross, and is meditating in our room.” Alexia responded. “Can it wait a day or two?”

“I guess.” Jay left, but minutes later Nya came in.

“Is Lane okay? She wasn’t at breakfast.”

“Meditating. I’ll get her food.” Alexia promised.

Soon enough, Alexia became the person everyone (and we mean EVERYONE) went to, as it seemed odd for Lane to have cut herself off from the rest of the ship’s inhabitants. Cole asked if she was still on dinner duty (while he would never admit to having vomited up his food, internally he submitted that both Zane and Lane were better cooks), Nya continually worried about Lane not being present at meals, Moppet got scared Lane might not let anyone back into the room to sleep, and Sensei Wu came to Alexia with a scroll he claimed Lane had asked for. As a result, Alexia barely made  _ any _ progress on her Otaku magazine, only about halfway through the issue by lunch.

Having become somewhat irritated, Alexia was stretched to near her breaking point two hours after lunch. Her eyebrow was twitching, and just as she calmed down Lloyd walked in. “Uh, Alexia,”

Alexia slammed the pages of her magazine together, furious. “Jesus f* Christ! Must everyone come and ask about Lane’s status?!  _ Gottverdammt! _ I should’ve stayed with Lane, at least I could’ve finished this even if I would’ve had serious injury. Now for f*’s sake, what now?”

Terrified and confused, Lloyd fled. He actually had been about to ask if he could use the common room to watch some TV, but now went back to his room, where Moppet looked at him curiously. “What happened?”

Two minutes later...

Calmed down by her outburst, Alexia was nearly finished when she heard someone enter the room. “If this isn’t a life or death matter, Imma smack you.”

A practice sword was dropped in her lap. Alexia groaned, putting her magazine down. “Seriously?”

Kai grinned at her. “C’mon, you were the one who wanted to practice. Besides, it might become a life or death matter when you’re fighting without enough experience.”

“I  _ will _ pummel you, one of these days.” Alexia muttered.

Snorting/laughing, Kai grabbed his own practice sword. “I have yet to see that.”

Surprisingly, Alexia’s anger at repeatedly being interrupted allowed her to win the first two matches, though the second through less, ah,  _ conventional _ tactics. It involved tripping Kai with her sword by aiming for his feet (“That was  _ not _ fair,” “Well, in a life or death situation, fighting  _ creatively _ will get you through alive,”).

Elsewhere...

Zane was in a state of complete panic. Earlier in his life he might have argued a robot is unable to become panicked, as no inventor would design a robot which was able to freak out. Now Zane could find no other way to describe his current state of mind.

He had not seen Lane in approximately 21.6 hours, since dinner the previous night. This morning Lane was not present at breakfast, though Zane had simply attributed that to sleeping late. When she had not gotten up before 10:00 a.m., Zane thought she might be with Moppet, but he soon found the young girl playing Pokemon alongside Lloyd.

At this point, Zane had concluded Lane had taken up lunch duty. But at lunch, Lane had once again been absent during the meal. Worried, Zane had assumed she was with Alexia, only to find the blonde alone in the common room (he did not approach her, as her state indicated a 95% chance Alexia would explode upon interruption of her reading).

At this point, four hours after lunch and two before dinner, Zane was officially beyond worry; he was terrified for Lane’s welfare. His very acute brain had already come up with various scenarios in which Lane had somehow come to harm. She could have gone to meditate and gotten stuck, or worse, fallen off the ship as he hadn’t been there (an alarming 73% chance, as Lane appeared to not be anywhere on the ship). Lane could’ve gone to the engine room to fix something and gotten electrocuted (thankfully, only a 14% chance). She might have had an accident while in the girls’ room and passed out, such as hitting her head while getting off her bunk (a 59% chance).

The words Jay had told him earlier about when he had developed feelings for Nya popped back into Zane’s head. Specifically the part about being very protective of Nya. At this point Zane was forced to admit he may  _ possibly _ have... stirrings of affection... for Lane. This was also scary, as being a robot had made Zane think such feelings were impossible.

Having triple checked all of the rooms except the girls’ room (as the door was closed, Zane suspected Alexia or Moppet was doing something private in the room, and would not be happy to be subject to question), Zane finally admitted defeat and headed onto the deck to think. He held his head, trying to convince himself that despite the overwhelming possibility that Lane had sustained harm, Lane was perfectly fine. It was an impossible task.

Alexia noticed Zane watching her and Kai spar after she got knocked over for the 5th time (five times earlier, Alexia had managed to knock Kai’s sword out of his hand with a burst of speed and strength).

“Come to see me fail?” Her voice snapped Zane out of his trance, and he smiled weakly.

“You are improving at a pace of 2.9% in each match of today, and likely will be on par with Kai in a few months or so.” Zane responded.

Alexia shrugged. “Sadly, all of history’s lessons on battle strategy have been used, including Alexander the Great’s, which failed completely.”

“Was that when you charged at me?” Kai asked, grinning at the memory (Alexia had been flipped over by him that time).

“Yup. The Mongols’ tactics worked best.” Alexia and Kai went back to sparring, causing Zane to sigh.

The two would never admit it, but everyone else on the ship could see the underlying attraction between Kai and Alexia. While at first at odds, Alexia recognized Kai as a master swordsman and respected the fact he could fight her without being weirded out by her being female. For his part, Kai knew being a girl didn’t make Alexia a bad fighter (Nya had proven this with the Samurai suit she’d built) and he was impressed at her eagerness to get better.

Remembering the scroll Sensei Wu had given her, after the next bout (again, a victory for Kai), Alexia grabbed it from where she’d laid her Otaku magazine. “Hey, can you give this to Lane?” She asked Zane.

Shooting up, Zane looked at Alexia. “You know where she is?” He said, stunned.

Alexia shrugged. “She’s been in our room the entire day. I figured Lane needed some quiet time, and I’ve just been slipping food under her door to make sure she doesn’t go hungry.”

“You didn’t know?” Kai asked. “We all just avoided it to, you know, avoid her wrath.”

Nodding feebly, Zane raced inside with the scroll tucked under his arm before coming to the door leading to the girls’ room.  _ What do I say? _ For the first time, Zane was unable to figure about an answer through logic and reason.  _ I... I will explain that through my observations, I... enjoy her company and may have feelings for her. I will present it as cold science, and not at all as something odd. _

Slowly, Zane knocked on the door.

A loud groan clearly came through. “For the last time, I don’t need food Alexia, I need peace and quiet!” Zane opened the door slightly, revealing himself to Lane. She looked at him, exasperated. “Okay, what’s the excuse this time?”

Unable to form the answer he’d prepared himself to use moments earlier, Zane ended up squeaking out, “Habit?”

Lane sighed. “For the record, I’m in no danger. The floor is only two feet away, the bed isn’t going to swallow me, and I checked for monsters under the bed.”

“Even a floor at that distance could give harm if you landed head first.” Zane responded, calming down.

“You’re just going to follow me wherever I happen to go to meditate, aren’t you?” After Zane nodded feebly, Lane sighed again. “Fine, you can meditate on the bottom of Alexia’s bunk, she sleeps on the top anyway.”

Zane complied before handing over the scroll from Sensei Wu. “Sensei said you had asked for this?”

Taking the scroll, Lane shoved it under the bed before looking at Zane. “Not a word out of you for the next two hours. I’ve had peace and quiet and I need those things.”

Two hours later...

Alexia carefully opened the door of the girls’ room. She had  _ finally _ finished her Otaku magazine after all of her sparring matches with Kai, and was planning to sneak in to grab an aspirin for her headache and new array of bruises. She was surprised to see Zane also in the room, but brushed it off in favor of grabbing the medicine she needed before tapping Lane. “It’s your turn for dinner.”

Groaning, Lane got up. “Can’t it wait?”

“You’ve had over twelve hours of ‘don’t touch me or I’ll bite you’ time. That’s at least six meditation periods.”

“True.” Lane got off her bunk and left the room to make dinner, and Alexia looked at Zane.

“She didn’t rip your head from your body?”

“Why would she have done that?” Zane asked, curious.

“Because every time she’d tried to meditate in peace you’ve disturbed her. Oh, and she probably would have done the same had I attempted to walk in on her.”

He blinked, perhaps his affections weren’t as one-sided as he had thought.


	18. A Return to the Plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author remembers that there is a thing called plot, panics, and frantically pumps out a plot filled chapter.

The following weeks were fairly uneventful; the male ninja continued to train the girls, with Alexia and Lane improving to the point where they could hold their own on a 1:5 ratio. Moppet was still behind, though her ability with the obstacle course had risen enough that Lloyd was hopeful he could start teaching her hand-to-hand combat soon.

Naturally, the girls were extremely surprised when they weren’t woken up at 5:30 a.m. by the gong; it was around seven in the morning when Alexia stumbled out of bed due to her internal alarm clock. “Is there a reason I’m not waking up with the moon?”

“I dunno...” Lane grumbled. “Lemme sleep...”

Managing a chuckle despite her grogginess, Alexia dressed and found Nya making breakfast in the kitchen. “How come you guys are up? Kai said he was going to get you at ten for sword practice, since they’d give Lloyd a break then.”

“Internal alarm clock. Normally it’s set for six, but no school means it goes off late.” Alexia went over to the fridge. “How come they’re training Lloyd? Thought our training was top priority.”

“Sensei said something about you being fine for now, and that the final battle is coming up so Lloyd needs to be trained.” Nya replied.

“Oh.”

A zombie-like Lane soon entered the dining room, her hair disheveled. “You woke me up,” She accused, pointing a finger at Alexia when the other girl set down a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her.

“We all got an extra hour. ‘Sides, we shouldn’t sleep in too much or we’ll have trouble getting to bed early.”

“Fiiiiiiine.” Once finished, Lane dragged Moppet by the collar to the dining room. “Since we already tried every feasible use of water, any ideas?”

“Here.” Nya waved a piece of freshly cooked bacon in front of Moppet’s face. The young girl instantly woke up, grabbing the bacon and munching contently on it.

“See? Water isn’t necessary to wake me up,” Moppet mumbled through her delicious strip of fried heaven.

After breakfast, Moppet toddled back to her room while Alexia, as usual, went to the training room; this time, Lane followed, figuring it was worthwhile to work. As such, the two were able to eavesdrop on the male ninja, who were on the deck.

“Lloyd. Lloyd!” Kai yelled. “You’ve got to concentrate.”

“I know, I know...” Lloyd muttered.

“Look, you  _ have _ been training Moppet for weeks, but you’re still the Green Ninja. You need to train and focus for the fight with Lord Garmadon,” Cole reminded.

“Who’s ‘Lord Garmadon’?” Lane asked, puzzled.

“Self-proclaimed Lord of Darkness, but if I remember correctly, he’s got an army to back up that title. Serpentine or skeletons, can’t remember which.” Alexia answered. “Also, he’s Lloyd’s father.”

“He’s got to fight his dad?!” Lane whispered, horrified.

“Yeah.” Alexia opened the door of the room slightly, noting Lloyd’s long face. “Poor kid.”

“This is Star Wars all over again…” Lane sighed, shaking her head, “or Harry Potter, what is it with prophecies and making kids fight the bad guy and save the world?”

“Hey, don’t blame me, I don’t write those scrolls,” Alexia reminded. “Anyway, what was that scroll Sensei Wu gave you?”

“...History... kind of...” Lane said before turning to listen again.

“Everyone else my age gets to read comic books and play sports. Even the girls are getting time off today. How come all of this falls to me?” Lloyd complained.

“Alexia, Lane, and Moppet are all working hard.” Zane responded calmly. “You should follow that example.”

Sighing, Lloyd went through yet another maneuver, effortlessly knocking out Kai, Jay, and Zane before Cole was able to trip him with his scythe. “Lloyd, you’re better than this. What’s on your mind?” Jay questioned.

“Well... the latest issue of Star Farrage just came in at Doomsday comics, and it's a limited run! If I don’t go out and get it, it’ll sell out.” Lloyd explained frantically. “Last issue, intergalactic rogue Prince Donagan was surrounded by imperial sludge; if I don’t find out if he gets out alive, I might have my own doomsday!”

“Lloyd, you’re the Green Ninja. You have a huge responsibility on your shoulders. You don’t have time to worry about childish things like comic books.” Kai scolded.

Lloyd just snorted, walking to the side of the ship and watching some kids play soccer. “This isn’t fair...”

“First lesson of life, Lloyd.” Alexia replied, walking out of the training room. “The world is in absolutely no way fair.”

“How come you guys are up?” Jay asked, confused.

“You really think you can wake up people at dawn or earlier for weeks and then expect them to sleep in one day out of those weeks?” Lane inquired.

“Then we’ll take a break from training.” Kai looked at the sulking Lloyd. “Get breakfast, Lloyd. I’ll stay out here and help Alexia with her swordsmanship.”

“I will stay as well.” Zane added. “While I am not skilled in swords, I should be able to help Lane with offensive maneuvers using my shurikens.”

Hours later...

The girls were in their room, having managed to somehow avoid gaining new bruises (Alexia chalked it up to luck; Lane retorted that it was their skin getting used to it). Nya came in an hour before dinner, her face pale. “There’s trouble!”

“Coming.” Alexia and Lane were out with their weapons in a heartbeat, while Moppet took a few moments to put on her claws.

“What’s going on?” Jay asked on the deck.

“There’s been a break-in at the Ninjago City Museum of History, and the security footage picked up images of you-know-who!” Nya told them. 

Lane immediately put on her ‘someone’s about to die’ face. She liked museums. 

“Garmadon. I’ll bet he’s using his Mega-Weapon to do something.” Cole decided.

Lloyd looked somewhat excited, but his face fell upon glancing the other male ninja’s faces. “Lemme guess, it’s too dangerous for me to go?”

The other males nodded. “The Ninja Tank can hold the four of us, but with Lane and Alexia it may be a tight fit.” Zane noted.

“I’ve been working on that.” Nya pressed a button, and two vehicles came out of the hold resembling motorcycles.

“Good thing I got my learner’s permit before we left,” Alexia muttered with Lane nodding.

“Wait, they get to go?!” Lloyd was furious. “I’ve trained longer! And I’m stronger,”

“You’re also younger. They will need to go on a mission eventually, and we don’t want a confrontation between you and your father.” Zane said. “Moppet will stay behind along with Nya.”

“Okay!” Moppet was relieved; for all that she was just as fond of museums as Lane, she did  _ not _ trust herself on the battlefield anymore than she trusted Lloyd to stop pranking people (case in point, he’d tried to prank Lane with pie last week; it had ended in the poor boy having the pie thrown at his back while he ran).

The older ninja left, with Alexia and Lane trailing slightly behind the boys on their motorcycles. Nya had programming in an auto-pilot, but Alexia had barely driven a car before, much less a motorcycle. Lane, surprisingly, was very good at riding it, so much so that Zane made a mental note to ask her why later.

At the museum, the ninja slipped in via rooftop to the second floor where they spied Lord Garmadon and the Serpentine (Alexia quickly explained to Lane what the latter were in a whisper; sadly she spoke no German, and Lane spoke no French, so hushed English was the best they could manage for having a somewhat private conversation around other people). Skales was in the lead, muttering about how the humans had gotten the Serpentine ancestors wrong and complaining about Lord Garmadon’s rule over them when said ruler appeared. While the other Serpentine were quick to bow, Skales wasn’t hesitant about it; he was defiant until all the others had done so, and only did it grudgingly.

“Snakes. Well, better than spiders.” Alexia noted. Unconsciously, Kai squeezed her hand.

“Behold. Dromaeosaurid Theropod Grundalicus, known commonly as the Grundle.” Lord Garmadon motioned to the skeleton behind him. “While extinct now, thousands of years ago it was the greatest predator in all of Ninjago. Claws that could slice through steel and sense that could detect prey from miles away made it able to find even the stealthiest of ninja. If it picked up your scent, there was no escape.”

“I heard about those.” Jay shivered. “Glad we live in a time where we don’t have to worry about them.”

“Sounds nasty.” Lane muttered.

“Great hisssstory lesssssssson, but what can we do with a pile of bonessss?” Skales demanded.

“I intend to bring this creature to life once more!” Lord Garmadon fired back.

“Alright, sssshow ussss then!” Skales challenged.

Lord Garmadon turned towards the skeleton, holding his Mega-Weapon high. “Rise, Grundle! Feel the strength of the Mega-Weapon; I wish for the power to make you young! Turn back time and rejoin the world of the living, with a hunger, hunger for the ninja!”

“He’s bringing that  _ thing _ back?!” Alexia gaped.

“He’s using orders that  _ lame _ ?” Lane asked, appalled, “Even Moppet has a better sense for the dramatic!”

“Not if we have anything to say about it! Now!” Zane called. The ninja hopped onto the banister, holding their weapons aloft.

“The ninja! Stop them!” Lord Garmadon yelled.

“There’ssss ssssix now? Where’d they come from?” A Serpentine demanded. Ignoring the confusion, the ninja ran towards the Grundle skeleton, jumping on it.

“Not the best plan, Cole!” Lane shouted, as everyone but Kai fell off onto the floor. Desperate, Kai threw his katana at Lord Garmadon; it hit the Mega-Weapon and knocked it out of his hands, causing the smoke around the Grundle skeleton to disappear.

“Not again... Not again!” Lord Garmadon cried out in angst.

“And you ssssaid it wouldn’t fail.” Skales mocked.

“Retreat!” Lord Garmadon grabbed his Mega-Weapon off the floor before giving the ninja the evil eye. “Curse you ninja, and curse your ever growing numbers!”

“Well, we’re done here,” Jay began.

“Not quite. They’re stealing that gold sarcophagus!” Cole responded. The ninja chased the Serpentine out to the street, only for the Serpentine to escape into the sewers, with the sarcophagus lying in the street.

“Geez, we’re usually faster than that.” Jay grunted, tired.

“When did that thing get so big?” Alexia asked. “Or... did something happen to us?”

“Guys? Look over there...” Cole pointed to a reflective window, and the ninja looked at it in horror to find,

“WE’VE SHRUNK!!!” Jay screamed, with the rest of the boys following. Having collected herself sooner, Alexia whacked all of them on their heads to shut them up.

“Calm the fuck down, everyone!” She shouted.

“Calm down? Calm down?! This is bad on so many levels!” Jay yelled.

“This can’t be happening! It must be a dream, right Zane?” Cole pleaded.

“Nindroids don’t dream! Garmadon must have succeeded, but instead turned back the clock on us!” Zane replied.

“But nindroids don’t turn into kids! Explain that, genius!” Jay retorted.

“My logic parameters are at their limits, but there is no explanation! This... does... not... compute!” Zane sparked as a result.

“At least you’re not a calculator...That would... be... bad?” A small voice murmured. Everyone turned to find a ten year-old Lane huddling against the wall. Eyes widening, Alexia immediately walked over to Lane.

“Lane, it’s okay. I’m right here. Nothing is going to happen. I promise everything will turn out okay.” Alexia said soothingly. “Are you alright?”

“No.”

Alexia sighed. “At least she’s honest.”

“What is wrong with Lane?” Zane asked, scared. He kneeled next to Lane, who promptly grabbed his arm and refused to let go.

“Remember when Moppet and I said Lane has... problems?” Alexia responded. “Those problems were about a million times worse when Lane was ten. I wasn’t there, but from what I know she’s going to be out of it for a while.”

“I can’t be a kid again!” Cole cried. “You can’t drive, nobody listens to you, and... oh no... bedtime!”

Lane noticed some strange men nearby and pulled on Zane’s sleeve. “Is something wrong?” He asked.

“Look, Nya’s expecting us to meet her at the Bounty. I’m sure Sensei will know what to do!” Kai reassured him.

“There’s... um... people... uh... and...” Lane found it difficult to talk due to her constant shaking and dread pit in her stomach.

“But what if he doesn’t?! What if we’re kids forever?!” Jay asked.

“Go on.” Zane said gently. Breathing in deeply, Lane pointed a trembling finger at the policemen coming towards the museum. Noticing the men, Zane helping Lane to a nearby alleyway before grabbing the others and dragging them into the shadows of the alley. “Hush!”

The policemen scanned the area, grabbing the sarcophagus and taking it back to the museum. “What was that for?” Kai asked.

“Lane noticed police, and in our current state I doubt they would believe we are the ninja.” Zane replied.

“Why didn’t she say anything?!” Cole questioned. In response Lane squeaked and tried to make herself smaller.

“She did, you were talking over her.” Zane retorted, somewhat angry at the fact his brothers could only be nuisances.

“Okay, first off, do we have our weapons?” Alexia asked. The group produced their weapons with the exception of Lane, who eyed them with terror.

“Lane, you need to take out your swords.” Zane said kindly, but Lane shook her head frantically.

“Listen, just take them out. I swear they won’t hurt you or anyone else.” Alexia told her. Slowly, Lane took out one of the swords and nervously handed it to Alexia. “Good, I’m armed.”

Lane eyed the blade warily, but said nothing.

“‘Least you’re not Cole.” Alexia jerked her head at the boy, who was desperately trying to balance himself with his scythe before it crashed down onto the street due to its blade. “Here, give me your second blade... I promise it won’t hurt you... there.” Alexia handed the other short sword to Kai, who, while able to lift his katana, had been clumsy with it. “Okay, we have three people armed. Zane, Kai, and me...”

Jay tried to spin his nunchucks, only to smack his arm and Cole, as previously mentioned, couldn’t pick his scythe up.

“What now? We can’t spend the night in an alley.” Kai pointed out.

“Lane and I have some money; we can try to go and find a motel or something,” Alexia replied. As the group turned to leave, there was a soft thunk on the ground.

Zane, alarmed, turned to find Lane on the ground face-first. “What is wrong?!”

“Oh. I forgot, Lane hasn’t grown into her legs yet. She did tell you her and Moppet were clumsy when we first met you.” Alexia reminded. Lane gave a muffled reply in agreement from the ground. 

***A quick note from do0m:**

**do0m: this actually happened! Every time I would get used to my height, I grew another two inches!***

The group left the alleyway, at a slow start at first since Lane could hardly go two steps without face planting. Zane ended up letting Lane hang off his arm, and proceeded to reduce his speed by 16% to allow Lane to stay steady.

After twenty minutes of wandering, the group found a small motel. While skeptical of them, the lady who ran the place took their money and gave them two rooms.

The next morning...

Lloyd was content. He and Moppet had been left alone on the ship, leaving them to do as they pleased for the entire day. So far, he had beaten 27 levels of Lane’s copy of  _ Kirby’s Return to Dreamland _ on solo and had Moppet join in once or twice. While able to relax, Moppet was still somewhat worried about Lane; she knew her older sister needed her meds, and unfortunately Lane had left those on the ship.

The phone in the game room rang, and Lloyd balanced it on his shoulder while he continued playing the game. “Destiny’s Bounty.”

“Lloyd!” Jay was relieved. “It’s Jay. Lemme talk to Sensei!”

Pausing the game, Lloyd picked up the phone. “Jay? Where are you guys? Why haven’t you returned? Sensei’s out looking for you!”

“Gimme that!” Alexia grabbed the pay phone from Jay. “Put Moppet on the line, and she can talk to Lane.”

Lloyd, confused, handed the phone to Moppet. “Sis?”

After a long period of silence, the answer was very soft mumbling which no one could hear except Moppet.

Alarmed and dreading what she feared was true, Moppet immediately changed her tone. “Lane, it’s okay. What’s happened?”

For the rest of the conversation, Lane mumbled quietly into the phone, with the other younger ninja unable to tell what the heck she was saying, only hearing bits of what Moppet would say in answer.

“Got it. But what if I can’t find you?” Moppet asked.

There was a small pause before Lane mumbled again.

“B-But I thought Plan G was for emergencies!”

The male ninja with Lane looked at Alexia, who sighed. “Look, I don’t have the sibling telepathy those two have. What I  _ do _ know is if they’ve gone through six plans already, they’re well on their way to Plan Q and R, which we  _ do not _ want them to get to.”

Lane finished with the phone and managed to hand it to Alexia before clinging to Zane. “Alexia, what happened?!” Moppet demanded.

“Uh... we kinda got turned into ten year-olds...”

Going rigid, Moppet only took a moment to react. “I need a street address! Now!”

“271 Pale Street.”

“Good! Now don’t go  _ anywhere _ , Lloyd and I will be there in seven minutes with weapons.” At this, Alexia hung up the phone and directed the group to a nearby restaurant.

The two ten year-olds showed up seven minutes later, but failed to recognize them until Kai grabbed Lloyd’s sleeve. “Lloyd, it’s us!”

“But you’re,” Moppet slammed her hand over Lloyd’s mouth.

“Shut up! This is serious, and obviously they’re trying to  _ not _ get noticed.” She hissed; the other ninja were wearing normal clothing the motel lady had given them. After his initial shock, Lloyd started laughing.

“What’s so funny?!” Cole demanded. “We can’t fight since people think we’re kids!”

“Guess you know how I feel!” Lloyd chuckled, only to be smacked by Moppet.

“How many times do I need to tell you this is a serious matter?!” Moppet asked, furious. She had already noticed Lane, who had ducked under the table the moment Lloyd put the weapons on the table. Zane was quietly trying to soothe her from his seat, and failing miserably.

“M-Moppet?” Lane got off the floor and hugged her sister before going back under the table, eating the pizza pie Alexia had ordered (half was already gone, but she wasn’t slowing down at all).

“How did this happen?” Lloyd asked, now out of his laughing fit.

“Lord Garmadon tried to bring back the Grundle, but his time reversal thing just affected us.” Kai told him.

“Uh, I think Lord Garmadon succeeded.” Moppet told them. “There’s something on the news about a dinosaur escaping a museum.”

“Oh shit!” Alexia cursed.

“This is bad! Without our spinjitzu, we don’t stand a chance!” Jay said worriedly.

“Moppet, do you have your ancient relic of a phone?” Alexia asked. Moppet handed it over, and after several tries, managed to phone the Bounty. “Hello?...  _ Gottverdammt _ , voicemail, the death of us all!”

“Okay. Sensei Wu, Nya, if you get this message, we’re in Ninjago City! Lord Garmadon turned us into kids, and we’ve got to face the Grundle. Come to wherever the monster is, we’ll be there!” Alexia hung up.

“We need to find the Grundle!” Moppet announced. “Okay, Alexia, Kai, Jay, Cole, Lloyd, and I will go after the Grundle. Zane, take Lane back to the ship and give her tea and a book.”

“Moppet, there is no time!” Alexia argued.

“Since when?!” Moppet retorted.

“There is a  _ giant dinosaur _ going around destroying everything! I know Lane’s not herself, but we don’t have time to make her comfy! That could take hours with her unstable hormones!”

Moppet huffed. “Then she goes at the back of the group. Zane, stay behind her and make sure no one sneaks up on her.”

“Wait, there’s a guy who knows all about defeating giant monsters! Come on!” Lloyd led the group to a comic book store. Kai groaned.

“This is just so you can get your comic!” Kai accused.

“Hey, this guy knows a ton!” Lloyd argued.

“Then so do we!” Moppet pointed out. “With Lane and Alexia’s knowledge of manga and anime, they would be able to kill anything!”

“Oh yeah?” Lloyd turned to Alexia. “Then how do you defeat the Grundle?”

“According to all manga, guns are  _ useless _ against any and all giant monsters, won’t do anything.” Alexia recited. “When dealing with something with really tough skin, look for a weak point, such as the feet or back.”

Lloyd stared at Alexia before Lane chimed in, “Actually... bombs are good.”

“They love manga, and manga has lots of monsters.” Moppet explained.

Elsewhere...

Having received Alexia’s voicemail, Nya and Sensei Wu raced to the old tea shop where Sensei had gotten Traveler’s Tea before. “What do you need?” The old woman asked.

“Special tea. It can turn someone... older.” Nya told her.

“Oh, you want Tomorrow Tea. I have one thing of it in the back...” The old woman led them to a storage room, only to curse. “I must have misplaced it...”

“We need to find that tea before it's too late!” Sensei Wu urged.

Back... you know where...

Night had fallen, and Lloyd was enjoying himself by listening to the owner of the comic book shop tell stories. Kai, Jay, and Cole listened as well, curious, while the others attended to Lane, who had loosened her grip on Zane’s arm somewhat.

There was a roar outside, and the ninja reached for their weapons. “Is that what I think it is?” Lloyd asked, terrified.

“My calculations say there is a 93% chance it is!” Zane gulped. The ninja slipped away as everyone else ran, changing into their ninja suits.

The Grundle entered the store, roaring and causing all the kids to evacuate. Lane, petrified, raced under a display stand, quivering and murmuring, “It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real...”

Zane immediately ran in front of her, throwing shurikens to protect Lane. “Get away from her, you filthy menace!”

Cole and Lloyd charged, only to get swatted back by the creature’s giant tail. Alexia managed to circle around and prayed to the stars that its feet were less heavily scaled. She stabbed at the creature’s feet, and the Grundle wailed in pain before turning around and bearing its teeth at her. Frozen in fear, Alexia could only watch as the giant dinosaur came closer, knees trembling...

“Alexia!” Kai dashed forward stabbing at the Grundle’s eyes several times. “Get back, monster!”

“Guys!” Nya entered the store, holding the jar of Tomorrow’s Tea. “This can turn you back and stop the Grundle!”

Being the closest to the door, Moppet grabbed the jar. “Lloyd!” She tossed it to him, as he and Moppet were the only ones standing. Cole, Kai, Jay, and Alexia had been knocked out, and Zane was still fiercely defending Lane, who was still hiding.

Without hesitating Lloyd threw the jar at the Grundle, causing smoke to appear. Nya and Sensei Wu ran out of the shop along with the owner, as the smoke filled the shop and light blinded everyone.

After the smoke and light died down, Nya and Sensei Wu slowly entered the shop. “Did we win?” Jay asked, getting up.

“What happened?” Kai muttered, holding his head.

“It worked!” Nya squealed. “Wait.. where’s Lane and Alexia?”

Zane ran to the small display stand, which was now crushed. Lane edged out, breathing in. “Legs... arms... hair... I’m seventeen again!” She whispered happily, stepping forward... and face planting. “This is going to take a while...” Lane mumbled.

“Alexia?” Kai ran towards a collapsed shelf, finding Alexia nearby. “You okay?” He asked, helping her up.

“No injuries...” She replied, only to jerk her arm away. Kai, confused, would have asked what was wrong, but Sensei Wu interrupted him.

“What about Lloyd?”

Another teenager near seventeen rose, wearing the uniform of the Green Ninja. “I’m... older...” Lloyd whispered. “Moppet!”

Lloyd knelt beside an unmoving female teenager, who woke and stood. Her shirt was now far too small due to an increase in... chest size, her pants were several inches too short and far too tight from a growth in her thighs, and her head was slightly larger. “I feel weird...” Moppet murmured, holding her head.

Lane took one look at her sister, gasped in horror, and fell onto the floor, unconscious. Alexia sighed.

“Oh boy, here we go again.”


	19. Changes and Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane falls comatose due to her sister's change, Moppet panics, and Alexia finds herself revisited by old demons.

It took a combined effort of Zane and Lloyd to transport Lane back to the ship, as the girl refused to wake up from her self-induced coma (not that she had a choice). Moppet, confused and terrified by the fact she currently had boobs, was being comforted by Alexia and Nya, though the two girls weren’t having much of an effect.

“Moppet, everything’s going to be fine!” Nya assured her.

“B-b-but I’m o-o-older!” Moppet wailed. “A-and L-lane i-i-is sc-sc-scared of m-m-me!”

“C’mon, Miss-Mop-A-Lot,” Alexia began, only for Moppet to erupt in fresh tears. “Ah, sorry! I mean, c’mon Mops, let’s get to the ship, Sensei Wu will know something!”

Refusing to stop crying, Moppet remained in the ruined comic book shop, bawling her eyes out. “This isn’t solving anything, Moppet!” Nya said desperately.

“N-no! I-I-If I-I st-stay h-h-here l-long e-enough, th-the D-Doctor will c-come a-and t-turn m-m-me b-b-back!” Moppet insisted.

Groaning, Alexia went to the Bounty, returning with a large frying pan. She then hit Moppet on the back of the head, knocking the poor girl out. “Why’d you do that?!” Nya said, shocked.

“A side effect of Lane having Moppet pray to the Doctor makes Moppet believe he will come if she cries long enough. Normally, Lane drags Moppet to another room and waits it out, but since Moppet is now older and Lane’s... out... I figured this was the best plan.” Alexia told her, attempting to hoist Moppet onto her back but failing miserably. Eventually Lloyd, who had just helped drop Lane off in the girls’ room, assisted Alexia in getting the teenage girl to her bunk.

The next morning...

Moppet kept her eyes shut when she woke. “Just a dream. It was just a dream. Just a horrible, vicious, extremely lifelike nightmare.”

“Unfortunately, no.” Alexia replied, coming in with a glass of milk and a plate. “You’ve been out for over sixteen hours.”

Her eyes flying open, Moppet began to bawl again as she looked down at her sixteen year-old body. Her wailing drew a scared Lloyd, who tried to hug her like Lane normally did; this failed  _ spectacularly _ , Moppet only screamed louder.

Sighing, Alexia set down the glass and plate. “Dinner’s in a few hours, but I figured you’d be hungry.”

Moppet finally calmed down, wiping her eyes. “C-cookies?”

“Before you start another cry fest, it’s not Lane’s special ginger snaps, it’s my mom’s double chocolate chip.” Despite the pain of talking about her mother, Alexia managed a small smile. “My brother Kevin used to eat dozens of these at Christmas, leaving just about nothing for Santa, so I had to help my mom make more.”

Lloyd would have asked why none of the other ninja had ever met Alexia’s brother, or for that matter, her parents, but he was more concerned about Moppet. The girl took a small bite of the topmost cookie before nodding. “I gwuess it’s gwood...”

“Can I...?” Lloyd started before seeing Alexia’s glare. “Or not.”

“Naw...” Moppet handed him one before swallowing. “They’re good.” She quickly finished off the plate and milk. “Where’s... where’s Lane?”

Alexia and Lloyd looked at each other worriedly. Moppet gasped, “Is she okay? Is she hurt? Is she incapacitated? Is she-”

“No, no, and no, she’s not dead.” Alexia sighed. “Notice how we’re in a different room...”

“Yeah?”

“Lane woke up in the middle of the night... and... well, I woke up to the gong... in the hallway, sleeping on my mattress with all of my stuff. You were there too, so we moved you to this room.” Alexia explained.

“Then where’s Lane?” Moppet insisted.

Lloyd rubbed Moppet’s back. “Don’t say we didn’t tell you...”

Alexia took Moppet to the girls’ former room. There was a sign in front of the room, reading:

**WARNING:**

**DO NOT ENTER**

**(PSYCHIATRIST’S ORDERS)**

“But...” Moppet looked at Alexia, who shrugged.

“I’ve tried to get back inside thirteen times; I’ve been thrown back into the hall every time.”

Immediately, Moppet’s eyes swelled with tears and she ran off. Lloyd looked in her direction, frowning.

“I’ll go help her.” He promised. He followed Moppet to her new living quarters, where she was curled into a small ball and sobbing. “C’mon, I’m sure Lane’s fine.”

“D-Don’t s-s-say th-th-that! Sh-she d-doesn’t l-l-love m-me a-a-anymore a-a-and i-i-it’s m-my f-f-fault!” Moppet wailed.

“How?” Lloyd asked, surprised.

“I-I-I a-aged u-up, a-a-and n-n-now sh-she’s u-u-un-st-st-stable!”

Confused but still more concerned about Moppet, Lloyd nosed around until he found the tiny piglet he had given Moppet just a few weeks ago. “C’mon, Mr. Snuffles doesn’t like it when you cry.” Lloyd whispered, embarrassed the legendary Green Ninja was doing this.

Using her sleeve to wipe her nose and eyes, Moppet slowly got off her bunk and looked at the bright pink piglet. “Mr... Snuffles...” She gently held the toy before glomping Lloyd, crushing the tiny toy between them. Lloyd turned beet red, and was going to try and escape before Moppet held him tighter and started crying on his shoulder. “Th-thanks...”

Very slowly (he  _ had _ just come out of the phase in which boys deem all girls as weird and gross), Lloyd wrapped him arms around Moppet, rubbing her back soothingly.

Elsewhere...

“Lane?” Zane continued to knock on the door. “You have not eaten in over 24 hours. I would highly suggest having a normal meal.”

The only response which could be heard was a piece of furniture hitting the door followed by a muffled apology. “I told you she’s not coming out.” Alexia reminded him.

“But this is irrational and against all my calculations!” Zane insisted. “My logical mind would say that this transformation would cause Lane to be even  _ more _ protective, as her younger sister is very fragile and needs caring!”

“That would make sense for  _ anyone _ but Lane.” Alexia told him bluntly. “She got turned into a ten year-old, which as I’ve said before was a traumatic time of her life, and just when everything was back to normal her baby sister is now only a year and two months younger biologically! I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to throw herself off the ship!”

“But why? What am I missing?” Zane asked. Alexia bit her lip.

“I’m the wrong person to ask. By the time I met them, Lane was taking meds for something. I never did figure out what it was exactly, since I knew better than to ask about anything like that. I would say you should ask Moppet, but she probably doesn’t know anything either.”

“Then do you suggest we give up?!” Zane demanded, enraged. “Simply accept this?!”

“No!”  _ Jesus Christ, I knew he liked Lane, but not that much! _ “Look, I honestly have no clue how to deal with this.” Alexia admitted, cursing her uselessness.

“I apologize. Normally... I am not like this.” Zane told her, calm.

“It’s been a tough couple of days.” Alexia tightened her hand into a fist upon remembering the previous night and that battle.  _ I was... _ Cutting that little voice off, she turned to leave. “I’m going into the training room. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Right now?” Zane asked, confused.

Whipping around, Alexia snarled. “Got a problem?!”

“No, I am merely surprised.” Zane said weakly. “You are easily strong enough to not need more time in there.”

“Everyone has their needs!” Alexia hissed, turning back around and leaving before Zane could see her eyes forming tears.

_ Useless. Worthless. Nothing... _ The voices echoed. “Shut  _ up _ .” Alexia growled under her breath, shaking her head.

In the girls’ previous room...

Lane was rocking. Not in a chair or on her bed, but on the floor. She had moved her mattress to the floor and was trying to control her breathing. It wasn’t working. “Not real. It’s not real. It’s not real...”

Disregarding the sign, Zane broke down the door to find Lane sitting on her mattress on the floor, eyes wide and red from crying.

“Lane, what is wrong? Please, I cannot help you unless you tell me what’s wrong!” Zane told her.

“You can’t.” Lane whispered. “Bad. Bad bad bad bad...”

“I am not going to leave until you are better.” Zane said firmly. “Now, please, you are fine.”

“No.”

“Then eat. You will feel better.” Zane picked up Lane and took her to the dining room. “Wait here and I will get something for you.”

Lane just stared at the table, trying to not tremble. Zane set a plate of leftover pork and potatoes in front of her, but Lane would only look at it. “Please eat. I will feed you if necessary.”

At this, Lane picked at her food, but still refused to eat. Sighing, Zane put away the rest of the food before wrapping his arm around Lane’s waist and hauling her up. Lloyd was still comforting Moppet in the girls’ new room, so once Zane had deposited Lane back in the old room, he joined the remaining male ninja on the deck for training.

“How is she?” Jay asked.

“I could not even get her to eat. She is extremely upset at the current situation.” Zane replied.

“Did you see Alexia? We need to work on her swordsmanship.” Kai told him.

Remembering how angry Alexia had been earlier, Zane decided to respect her plea. “No, I did not see her. She may be resting inside.”

Confused, Kai shrugged and resumed sparing with Cole.

Hours later...

Dripping in sweat, Alexia went to the girls’ room to finding Moppet holding Lloyd and Mr. Snuffles, having not let go the entire time. Lloyd was murmuring small words of comfort and trying to not blush every time Moppet squeezed him for support. Alexia paused to rub Moppet’s head affectionately before showering.

No one complained that night when Cole cooked; thankfully, he just threw frozen pizzas into the oven, and even a biohazard cook like him was able to heat up frozen food. Zane tried to drag Lane to the dining room, but she clung to one of the bunks with an iron grip. Eventually, Zane gave up and simply brought the (now cooled) pizza into her room. Even then, Zane had to feed the poor girl, as Lane’s jaw was firmly closed unless he opened it with a good deal of force and placed food into her mouth.

There was very little dinner conversation that night, and afterward Cole and Jay cleaned up while everyone went to bed.

“Hey, Alexia,” Kai called. “Alexia!”

Ignoring him, Alexia pushed Moppet into their new shared room and shut the door behind them. “Aren’t you going to answer him?” Moppet asked.

“No. Bedtime.” Alexia replied. “We’re probably going to have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay.” Moppet climbed into bed, sniffing. “Is Lane gonna be okay?”

“I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self soon.” Alexia quipped. “Night, ‘Mops.”

“Good night...” she replied doubtfully.


	20. A New Day Brings Growth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lane out of commission, Zane takes it upon himself to care for her while Kai attempts to help a closed off Alexia.

Alexia carefully woke before dawn, long before the gong. She dressed quietly and tiptoed out of the room, leaving a note for Moppet in case the girl needed help or comfort. Once out of earshot to the living quarters, Alexia sighed before going to the kitchen. She was on kitchen duty, and as such quickly made several batches of pancakes with bacon and sausage.

Placing the prepared food in the oven to keep warm (her stomach would only accept a small piece of toast washed down with water), Alexia went to the training room.

An hour later...

Zane peeked his head into the room, eyes widening as he saw the stuffing of multiple punching bags on the floor. Alexia was currently delivering several roundhouse kicks to another coupled with punches from both hands. “Alexia?”

“H-how’d you know I was here?” Alexia panted, wiping sweat off her forehead.

“I suspected you were here after the way you acted yesterday. Lane is still refusing to leave your old room.” Zane replied.

“On my way.” Alexia grabbed a small towel before hesitating. “Don’t tell anyone I was here, okay?”

“Your clothing could reveal this.” Zane noted. Case in point, Alexia was dressed in a tank top and exercise shorts.

“...I’ll throw something on top of it. Just don’t say anything, ‘cause I’m coming back later.”

Lane seemed to have given up whatever strength she had used the day before to cling to the bedposts, and was silently carried into the dining room. Breakfast was a quiet affair, as everyone was exhausted and Sensei Wu had agreed to a day off in light of the circumstances.

Moppet was next to Lloyd, who did his best to comfort her and tried to figure out why he was constantly seeking out Moppet. Lane still needed to be force-fed, but at the very least her jaw was loose enough that did not need to be worked open with every bite. Once breakfast was finished, Nya and Alexia cleaned it up before Alexia raced back to the training room, lying to Nya on where she was going.

Later, Kai went to his sister, who was repairing her Samurai suit. “Hey, where’d Alexia go? Didn’t she help you with breakfast earlier?”

Nya shrugged. “I guess she’s tired, since she told me she was going back to sleep.”

Kai frowned, knowing that of the new girls, Alexia was the only one who didn’t need excess sleep, but brushed it off. “If you see her, could you tell her we need to talk?”

Snickering, Nya cocked her head. “Relationship problems?”

Turning beet red, Kai tried to speak without stammering. “Since when has...  _ that _ been something I worry about?”

Rolling her eyes, his sister snickered again. “Sure, I’ll tell her.”

“Thanks.” Kai went to the game room, wondering where Nya had gotten the idea that he felt anything about Alexia.

Elsewhere...

“You okay?” Lloyd asked Moppet. The teen girl was sitting on her bunk.

“I guess...” Moppet squeezed Mr. Snuffles tightly. “The Doctor’s not coming to turn us back, is he?”

Lloyd could only shrug. “If he is, he must be lost.” He replied, playing along.

“Or the he can’t pilot the TARDIS properly.” Moppet grumbled, remembering how terrible the Doctor was at driving the TARDIS.

“True. Want to play Pokemon? I’ll go easy.” Lloyd promised.

“Nah...” Moppet got off her bunk. “I just... I want Lane to be okay.”

“You heard Alexia. Lane’ll be fine.” Lloyd assured her. Moppet bit her lip, knowing Alexia wasn’t at her best either.

Speaking of which...

The punching bag tore off the hook, spilling more stuffing onto the floor of the training room.

Panting for air, Alexia bent over, hand on her knees. She'd been in the room for over five hours, having left just when nature called. She was testing her limitations and telling them to fuck off in an effort to get stronger. Her mind flashed back to two days prior, and Alexia clenched her fists to keep from shaking.

Grabbing the next bag, Alexia had just finished tying it when the door of the room opened.

"It's past lunch," Kai told her.

"Gee, really? I didn't know!" Alexia responded sarcastically. She resumed punching until Kai grabbed her right arm.

"You need a break."

"I need to keep training."

"What's with you? You been avoiding me since Lloyd and Moppet aged up."

"I've been avoiding everyone, you're not special."

Kai snorted. "You helped Zane with getting Lane to breakfast this morning, I saw you and Nya cleaning up after, and you comforted Moppet yesterday. Stop with the bullshit and tell me why."

Alexia pursed her lips. "None of your beeswax, now leave me alone!"

Groaning, Kai decided drastic times called for drastic measures. He hauled Alexia up fireman carry style, carrying her out of the training room.

"OI! LET ME DOWN, HOTHEAD! LET ME DOWN OR I PUMMEL YOU!" Alexia screamed, trying to kick at him only to fail as Kai held her legs.

Though Jay and Cole looked on, interested, neither wanted to intervene, and both agreed that the two needed to work out their problems.

Kai finally put Alexia down upon reaching an empty guest room. He locked the door, slipping the key into his ninja suit to keep Alexia from getting out.

Huffing, Alexia tried to get the key from Kai and failed, so she sat on the bed in the room.

"Will you talk now?" Kai asked.

"Nope. And I'll stay here silent until you unlock the door," Alexia replied.

The pair, stubborn to the end, stayed in the room for over two hours. Nya checked in on them via security camera at the one hour mark to make sure they hadn't killed each other; Alexia was staring at the ceiling, fiddling with her thumbs and Kai sat on a chair, staring at her.

Finally, after two hours and ten minutes, Kai spoke. "You'd think a person would be grateful when someone saves their life."

Going rigid, Alexia bit her tongue to keep from screaming insults until her mind settled. "I never said I wasn't."

"Sure have been acting like it."

"What do  _ you _ know about anything?" Alexia snapped. "What do you know about how it feels to be useless, to be helpless?! About being less than nothing?!" She buried her head in her knees, sobbing.

Getting out of his chair, Kai sat down next to Alexia. "I know the feeling being useless while my father was sick," He said quietly. "Feeling helpless when skeletons attacked my village and took my sister. But yes, I don't know why you feel helpless."

Poking her head out of her knees, Alexia breathed in deeply. "My parents didn't love me after the accident," She whispered. "My mother was left with brain trauma and my father descended into alcoholism as a result. He would beat me in his drunken rages and feign ignorance when he was sober. My little brother was always loved, and I was left on my own."

"Then your scar,"

"It was the first time I ever defended myself." Alexia wiped her eyes. "After that, when my dad was sober, he said I might just be useful after all. My brother was always encourage to be artistic since he was a good painter. My parents started to notice my grades and my fighting ability; for the first time in awhile, they started to actually care about me."

"Did your father stop beating you?"

Alexia shook her head, trying to not tremble. "He still would get drunk, but in her sane moments I managed to get my mom to pay for martial arts lessons. The one time I wasn't home for the bout of drunkenness he beat my brother Kevin. He didn't know how to defend himself. I came home the next morning from a friend's house and found my mother wrapped around a badly wounded Kevin, babbling about knives and bones while my father had passed out. After that I swore I'd take the hits, because Kevin was the only one with a chance of getting out normal."

Rubbing Alexia's back, Kai kissed her forehead. "Better?"

She nodded slowly, leaning into Kai's chest. "Thanks..."

"Any time." Kai murmured. Alexia shifted, ending up in Kai's lap. He look down at her face, briefly noting the small space between them before closing it.

Alexia's mind normally was always at work, thinking, but in those precious seconds her brain turned to mush, focusing on Kai's lips touching hers. She angled her head to the left, allowing their lips to smoothly fit together. Kai wove his hands through Alexia's hair, cradling the back of her head to keep her still while Alexia's arms were loosely hanging off his neck.

After a few minutes, oxygen deprivation managed to win and the two stopped, Alexia leaning against Kai, safely secured by his arms. "Better?" He whispered again, breathless.

"Much." Alexia whispered back. They cuddled for a few minutes longer before getting up.

"Sword practice time," Kai noted.

Alexia grinned. "You're on."


	21. Lessons to be Learned and Events to Be Remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moppet and Lloyd go through a quick lesson on their new bodies, and Lane continues to sink into her abyss...

Everything had gone wrong.

Lane had thought that she had left the whole ‘ten year-old phase’ behind, and that had come back. 

Lane had thought that it was her job to defend her baby sister, and now she wasn’t so little.

Lane had thought she had control.

“Lane, it’s time for lunch,” called Zane, knocking on the door.

“...”

“I cannot bring it to you this time, it’s soup.”

“...”

“It’s not Cole’s.”

The door opened a crack and Lane slumped out, avoiding eye contact. Zane peered through the bare room suspiciously (the room had been stripped both so that Lane could not hurt herself, and so that she would not try to barricade the door  _ again _ (the climbing equipment had come in handy for once)). Lane had stopped having panic attacks by now, but was still clearly uncomfortable in her once-baby-sister’s presence.

After feeding her, Zane took Lane back to her room and left to use the bathroom, only to come back to an empty room five minutes later. He sighed, knowing that Lane had run off to hide again, he had better go and check the mast.

For her part, Moppet was slowly beginning to accept her new older body, and was better off than Lloyd, as she understood her new body. Poor Lloyd was thrust into puberty headfirst as he woke up one morning to an... interesting predicament  ***Anyone who’s taken FLE knows what happened. The rest of you, look it up, this is a T fic***

“Shouldn’t we explain... puberty... to Moppet and Lloyd?” Nya asked Alexia worriedly.

“Moppet covered that years ago.”

“Really?”

“It was a required course in our school system.”

“Where?”

“...Really far away?”

Nya blinked, but shrugged it off, deciding that home must be a sore spot for the other girls. Meanwhile, Kai, Cole, and Jay were trying to give Lloyd an impromptu lesson in puberty, only for it to backfire horribly and have Lloyd become even more traumatized.

“THAT’S DISGUSTING!” Lloyd screamed, horrified by what the ninja were telling him.

“It’s true,” Moppet called, passing by the door, “Lane explained it all after they told me in school.”

“B-but I thought babies grew on trees! That’s what all of my friends told me!” Lloyd protested.

“And I thought they were delivered by dinosaurs, but I guess we all get disappointments some days.” Moppet replied matter-of-factly.

“DINOSAURS?” The ninja protested, completely baffled.

“Well, yeah, it couldn’t have been storks, they couldn’t carry the weight, or get into houses, if you had a big enough dinosaur, breaking and entering would be a breeze.”

Kai looked to Alexia, who had just entered the room. “And where did you think babies came from?”

Alexia shrugged. “I never got curious about it, so I learned about puberty and babies when I was in school at age eleven. Lane had to debunk all of Moppet’s theories before Moppet went into the class.”

“So... babies... don’t come from trees...” Lloyd said slowly. “Dang... everything I knew was a lie.”

“Better late than never!” Moppet sang before leaving.

Meanwhile…

Lane had finally found a place where no-one would find her. It wasn’t like she could hurt anyone from inside a tank anyway, right?

Later...

During training on the deck (Alexia and Moppet were trying to learn spinjitzu; Moppet was doing well since she was now able to completely clear the obstacle course, while Alexia was having trouble with said obstacle course, though considerably less than Moppet had when she’d first tried) an alarm blared, causing Nya to run out onto the deck. “Serpentine are attacking Ninjago City!”

“What’s Lord Garmadon doing this time?” Jay asked.

“It looks like it’s just a spontaneous attack, but I can’t be sure.”

“Then let’s get down there!” Cole ordered.

Everyone on the deck raced to the scene, the males in their tank and Alexia and Moppet on their motorcycles (both had greatly improved for an unknown reason). However, once they got there, Zane discovered Lane had hidden in the tank storage compartment, having gone there to hide from everyone earlier.

“Lane, please stay here.” Zane ordered. Lane nodded and curled herself into a ball, going to the corner of the small compartment.

The Serpentine had fanned out from the central square, but the majority was still there. “Alright, take any Serpentine you can!” Cole ordered.

Kai grabbed Alexia’s hand. “Let’s go!” The pair ran to the commercial part of the square cutting down several Serpentine which were looting stores.

Jay and Nya took the side streets, where Serpentine were running amok. Cole and Zane headed off into their own directions, leaving Moppet and Lloyd in the square.

“Does this happen often?!” Moppet yelled, slicing through another Serpentine and resisting the urge to puke.

“Unfortunately, yes!” Lloyd shouted back. “My dad normally has some strategy, though...”

Looking around, Moppet realized where the Serpentine were headed. “Is there something valuable in the museum?”

“The Grundle!” Both shouted. They raced towards the museum, only to get surrounded by Serpentine, one which came too close for comfort to Moppet, causing her to squeal.

Lane’s ears pricked slightly. “M-Moppet?” The girl peeked out of the trunk of the Ninja Tank, only to find herself face to face with a horde of snarling Serpentine. One of them ripped open the door to Lane’s compartment, holding a sword near her face.

At that very moment, something within Lane snapped. Normally, she was able to keep control. She was able to keep...  _ that _ locked up. But this was not a normal day, and the last week had been dangerously stressful, she just couldn’t hold on anymore. 

Lane let out an inarticulate scream, dashing towards her unfortunate enemies. The Serpentine which had been attacking her shook violently before several exploded into distressingly red cloud. A dark red tornado formed around Lane as she ran towards Moppet. Shreds of unidentifiable material lay scattered around the square in the wake of the angry girl.

Alexia turned around to Serpentine screams and paled. “Alexia, what’s wrong?” Kai asked

“We need to run...” Alexia whispered, near terror.

“What,” Kai was interrupted by Alexia grabbing his hand.

“RUN!”

Not questioning her, Kai quickly radioed his sister and told her the same message while Alexia radioed Lloyd and Zane. Zane responded, but Lloyd’s radio had broken during the fight.

Lane continued onward until she reached where Moppet and Lloyd had been surrounded. “Lane? You can do Spinjitzu?” Lloyd asked, surprised.

“That’s not spinjitzu...” Moppet told him quietly.

“Then... what is it?”

“...She’s just panicking,” Moppet murmured hurriedly, “I’m sure she’ll be all better soon…” she added, knees shaking.

“Moppet...” The tornado of blood slowly subsided, revealing a blood covered Lane. “Safe... Have to keep you safe...” Lane hugged Moppet tightly before closing her eyes.

“Lane?” Zane ran towards the trio, only for his eyes to widen. At his voice, Lane’s eyelids fluttered open and she stopped hugging Moppet.

“Wha...” Lane took one look at her blood soaked body before falling to her knees. “I... I did it again, didn’t I?” Lane shook violently, crying, and then collapsed, unconscious.


	22. Healing and Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lane miraculously recovers after a near death experience thanks to a return to her medication, confusing everyone.

“Moppet, what’s up with Lane?” Alexia demanded. Her friend had _ never  _ done anything like that before, and although she knew Lane had her ...problems… she had always figured that nothing serious was wrong.

“Lane probably needs her meds…” Moppet confessed tearfully, “I had thought she was okay!"

“ _ That’s _ what I was missing!” Zane noted. “That makes this so much simpler!”

“Wait. You were trying to solve this problem... AND YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING?!” Alexia yelled. “YOU NEVER ASKED MOPPET OR LANE, WHO PROBABLY COULD’VE TOLD YOU IN FIVE SECONDS?!”

“Actually... we’re not supposed to say anything...” Moppet whispered. When Alexia turned to her, eyebrows raised, Moppet clarified. “Our parents told me to never say anything... Mom said I’d understand when I was older...”

Later...

To say the atmosphere was tense on the Bounty was about the biggest understatement in the universe.

Moppet had locked herself in the bathroom, bawling her eyes out. Lloyd was trying to coerce her out of the bathroom; the one time he’d opened the door Moppet had thrown several bottles of shampoo and lotion at him, so he was careful to not repeat his mistake, and instead was camping outside.

Alexia was in the girls’ room, trying simultaneously to purge the terrifying image of Lane from her mind and telling herself to suck it up because Lane and Moppet needed a halfway-stable person.

Lane had (somehow) blockaded the door of the girls’ old room. She was currently rocking herself on the floor, while several different voices were screaming at her.

“Bad. Bad. Bad.” Lane whispered. Zane was still pounding on the door, but due to the fact Lane had put in earplugs, she couldn’t hear his pleading. Finally, Lane rose off the floor, wiping tears away from her face. It was time to end this... hallucination. She needed to wake up in her own bed with her baby sister Moppet across the hall. She needed to have her loving parents there for her. She needed Alexia to live down the street and be her crazy friend. She needed her meds.

Climbing onto her bunk, Lane carefully removed the loose boards of the ceiling. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized her special green skull-and-crossbones-do-not-drink bottle was not there. “No... nonononononono!!!!”

“Lane!” Terrified, Zane rushed outside, grabbing a rope before lowering himself to the window of the girls’ old room. He saw Lane hiding fearfully under her bunk, eyes wide and rimmed with red. He promptly broke through the window, kneeling down to face Lane. “Please come out. We are all worried.”

“It’s not right.” Lane whispered. “Can’t be real. Just a dream. All just a dream...”

“Please, tell me what your medications are. I can get you a prescription.” Zane promised. At this, Lane looked up.

After a moment, Lane began to rant off different compounds and chemicals in a seemingly random order. Zane... appeared to understand, and he nodded after each one was said. “I will be back with your medications. Please come out and wait on your mattress for me.”

Lane just stared at Zane as he raced out, using the Ninja Tank to go back to Ninjago City. Ten minutes later, Zane returned with an armful of mismatched bottles. Jay, who had taken a shift making sure Lane hadn’t left her room, looked at the bottles with surprised eyes. “How much medication is that for?! Twelve years?”

“I believe this is more suited for twelve months with Lane’s condition.” Zane remarked.

“Actually, if I’m really good at rationing it out, it’ll solve it for eight.” Lane said, looking embarrassed as she came out of the old girls’ room. She grabbed five of the bottles, took out several pills from each, and swallowed about twenty pills in one gulp. Lane then stood still for about five seconds before sighing in relief. “That’s better. I’d better go get Moppet, she’s probably still barricaded herself in a room somewhere...”

Zane and Jay stared at Lane as she calmly turned around and walked towards the bathroom where Lloyd was camping out. “Come out, Miss-Mops-A-Lot, stop pouting, it’s someone else’s turn now.”

“LANE!” The door flew open as Moppet glomped Lane, nearly throwing her older sister off-balance except for the fact Lane had braced herself.

“Calm down, are you hungry?” Lane looked at Moppet critically. “When did you last eat?”

“Breakfast today?”

“Then come on, you need lunch. And afterward, you’re giving Alexia another class in proper nutrition; that child needs more food for a teenager in puberty!”

“Yes Lane.” Moppet followed her sister to the kitchen, leaving Lloyd even more confused.

Lane began making lunch in the kitchen, allowing Moppet to put everything out on the table while the other occupants were trying to figure out how Lane had recovered in a matter of seconds. “How the hell is this possible?” Nya demanded, looking at Alexia.

“I dunno, this is the first time I’ve ever seen this!” Alexia replied. Moppet, who had just come in, answered the question.

“Well, How else would it work? There was a problem, and now it’s fixed.” She replied. “Come on, Lane’s making ramen!”

Lunch  _ would _ have been silent, except for the fact Lane was constantly turning to Moppet and giving her advice on eating.

“But Lane, I’m eating just as much as I always do!” Moppet protested.

“Exactly, Moppet. You just gained a large amount of mass, but you haven’t consumed enough mass to compensate! Now have another bowl.”

“What about Lloyd?”

“Him too. Eat another bowl, or neither of you get sweets after dinner!”

Lloyd, still somewhat confused by Lane, shrugged. “Lost my sweet tooth anyway.”

“Really? Dang, than you can’t leave the room until you finish.”

“But,”

“No buts, young man, I’ll duct tape you to the bench if I have to.”

“She’ll do it.” Moppet mumbled through a mouthful of ramen

At some point, Lane looked at Alexia, who had eaten a single bowl. “You too, eat another half a bowl!”

“What?! I didn’t age five years in two seconds!”

“First of all, Moppet didn’t age five years. She aged 5.7 years in approximately in 0.8 seconds. Second, you eat too little anyway.”

Alexia snorted, rolling her eyes in response.


	23. Magical History Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane finally divulges the contents of the scroll she received, leading to some interesting information.

Over the course of the next few days, it became clear that Lane, in fact, was back to normal. Or more normal than she had been the entire time she’d been on the ship.

Zane continued to follow Lane around the ship for about three days before Lane confronted him. “This has got to stop, Zane!” She told him, exasperated.

“But this is highly illogical, one cannot recover so fast without normal consequences!” Zane protested.

“I’m perfectly fine. Ask Moppet, she’ll confirm it.”

“What if something attacks you and you are not fully recovered? You must rest, you simply cannot be at maximum health in such a short span!”

Lane blinked. “Wait... you’re afraid something will attack me?”

“Naturally.”

“You’re afraid something will attack me? Not the other way around?”

“Yes.”

“...I’ll be fine, I promise. Besides, Moppet and Alexia will have my back.”

At this, Zane sighed and resigned himself to follow her at the respectful distance of ten feet, making sure to look pre-occupied whenever Lane turned around.

Such actions were, quite obviously, noticed by the others. “You do know Zane’s still following you around, right?” Alexia pointed out one night three days after Lane’s recovery.

“Of course. I’m just happy he’s out of my personal space. Anyway...” Lane paused. “When did you guys realize this... wasn’t a dream?”

“Two or three weeks ago, why?”

“...Gosh I’m slow,” Lane replied at length, sighing.

“I only figured it out after I got older and pinched myself 23 times,” Moppet offered.

“Is that why you showed up with an armful of bruises last week?” Lane asked.

“Yes.”

“Wait, you were still... like, semi conscious last week?”

“Well, of course,” Lane and Moppet chorused.

“And yet again, I see how you two are related.”

Moppet nodded. “I’m gonna go train, Lloyd said he was going to help me with spinjitzu.” Once Moppet had left the room, Lane dived under her bunk and retrieved a dust scroll.

“Is that the scroll Sensei Wu gave you?” Alexia asked.

“Yes, I’ve been reading it to gain a perspective on destiny and stuff.”

“Really? What does it say about us?”

Lane paused. “Well... it does say some nice things on you.”

“Like?”

“For the most part, the ninja of water makes it through battles and life. You even get married sometimes and have a family!”

“What about the other times?”

“You stay single. Protect a remote village and live in the forest. Or you have an epic death!”

“Gimme that!” Alexia took the scroll, reading through the list of deaths. “Jumped off a cliff while strangling a guy... explosion by 143 sticks of dynamite... thrown in a volcano... hey, this one is lame! I die due to lack of oxygen! That’s... boring! I’d pass out after a minute and it’d be so anti-climatic to the plot!”

“You died due to lack of oxygen while fighting underwater.” Lane pointed out, taking back the scroll.

“Still. What about you?”

After a period of silence, Lane cleared her throat. “I... ah... take a different route.”

“Like?”

“I turn dark...” Lane murmured. “Or die trying to save you guys... or the devil turns on me...”

“Wait, what?!” Alexia gaped. “No, no, and fuck no! That is not the Lane I know.” Alexia grabbed the scroll. “Screw destiny!” She attempted to throw the scroll out the window, only for Lane to grab it.

“Never destroy knowledge!”

“Pseudoscience DOES NOT COUNT.”

“Does too! We’re in a cartoon universe.”

“Well we control who we are! You should know that from the Doctor.”

“I know. But I compared myself to all of the blood ninjas and the one happy ending,”

“See? Someone defied destiny.” Alexia interrupted.

“If you hadn’t interrupted me, I would have said she discovered the scrolls, said ‘no way,’ abandoned her powers, became a woodcutter, and died happy with twelve children.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, unlike them, I do have my meds. So... I can kinda control my urges.”

“Okay, good enough for me. And don’t worry, I’m your insurance policy. I will personally hit any devil/dark sorcerer in the head who tries to turn you evil.”

“Whatcha doing?” Moppet asked, coming back into the room.

Scrambling, Lane opened the scroll to one of the water ninja’s more gruesome deaths. “Reading boy stuff!”

“Ack! That’s disgusting!” Moppet ran out of the room, and Alexia looked at the picture.

“I died covered in dinosaur's blood?”

“Your opponent used magic to bring back a dinosaur and merged with it. You die defeating him.”

“Ah. So how does Moppet fare?”

“Every time she lives happily. Sometimes she just frolics in the forest with cute animals, other times she marries and has a large family, but always happy-go-lucky Moppet.”

“That I will believe. Should we clue her in on... you know...”

“Oh heck no. I do not want my baby sister to have to worry!” Lane snorted.

“Technically she’s not your baby sister anymore,”

“No, she’s still about 10 months younger, and that makes her my baby sister. No buts.”

“Great.” Alexia hopped off her bunk. “Wanna go outside and see if we can actually do any spinjitzu?”

“Well...” Lane began.

“There’s an obstacle course you have to get through. We’re lucky, the time limit used to be somewhere around ten seconds.”

“Coming.” Lane carefully put away the scroll before giving another quick, silent fandom prayer to Santa/the Doctor/the giant chicken god in the sky. Lloyd was trying to teach Moppet spinjitzu, but even though Moppet was now able to clear the obstacle course, she was still very bad at using spinjitzu.

“Just try to do the obstacle course when I attack, okay?” Lloyd asked.

“Uh...” Moppet waited for Lloyd to charge, and tried to replicate what she did from the obstacle course. Unfortunately, Moppet ended up slipping and falling before Lloyd was even within fighting range. “Ouch... How’d you guys do it?”

“I... ah... kinda just got put in a situation where I had to do it to survive...” Lloyd admitted.

“Well we are NOT putting Moppet in a life or death situation!” Lane declared, helping Moppet up. “Right mops?”

“Yes Lane.” Moppet replied happily.

“Why don’t we try to get Moppet’s light powers under control? I normally get up early, but it’s not fun waking up at 2 a.m. due to a giant sun in your room.” Alexia mentioned.

“I can’t help it...” Moppet protested.

Lloyd sighed. “Honestly, when the guys trained me, I had four masters to train me in each of the elements. I have no clue if there’s any other masters of your elements.”

“Well that’s fucking fantastic.” Alexia muttered before getting smacked on the back of the head by Lane.

“No bad words.”

“They’re seventeen and sixteen now, not impressionable children.”

“That’s only on the outside. Have you  _ seen _ how they act?”

Two chorused voices shouted “HEY!” before Moppet and Lloyd began bickering on who was more childish.


	24. Sleep-Deprived Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moppet's continual 2 am wake-up calls cause Alexia to seek the assistance of Lane, only for the older girl to then awaken in a less than amicable state.

Once again, at exactly 2 a.m., Alexia stumbled out of bed, glare in her eyes as the room lit up like Apollo himself was lounging on Moppet’s bunk.

Alexia groaned, sick and tired of losing sleep due to constant sunrises in the room (it was the third night in a row), and pulled the bucket of ice water from under her bed, aimed, and...

“HEY,” Moppet screamed as the room suddenly went dark, “That was cold!”

“Either stop having warm, fluffy dreams, or sleep somewhere else, this is getting out of hand. I don’t like waking up to find a ball of sun in my room, and I’m kind of pissed that you only get positive mood swings.”

“I can’t help it! And stop talking, you’ll wake up Lane.”

“At this rate, you’re more likely to wake up everyone else, since you keep bringing dawn four hours early.”

Both paused, expecting a snarky comment from Lane, then turned to her bunk to see that she was still unconscious and snoring softly. Moppet sighed.

“How am I supposed to stop being happy? It’s my base state. Lane says so, you can even ask her… you know, in the morning.”

“If you didn’t have an older sister who would throw me out the window if I scared you, I’d make sure you’d never be truly happy again.”

“...How?”

“I have my methods.”

Moppet grumbled, clearly upset with Alexia and left to get a towel. Alexia sighed again, looking at Lane.

“Dammit, I’m not going to let you sleep like the dead if both of us have to be awake.” Alexia grabbed Lane’s ankle, hauling her out of bed. The unconscious girl only woke for a moment, before, looking discomfited, crawled under the bed and went back to sleep.

Having returned to the room and seen Alexia attempt to wake Lane, Moppet sighed. She didn’t like how Lane was able to sleep through anything either. “That’s not how you wake Lane up.” She took the wet towel, pushed Alexia away to a safe distance, and carefully flicked the corner of the towel onto Lane’s face.

A wordless cry of terror filled the room as Lane went from fully unconscious and horizontal to terrified and clinging to the bottom of the light fixture (a full 6 feet in the air) in about a quarter of a second. A few seconds later, there was a muffled thud as Lane, dizzy, lost her grip on the light and fell on the ground again, clearly only half awake.

“Now that you’re conscious... any ideas on how to stop Moppet from being a ball of light?” Alexia questioned.

Lane blinked several times, opening and closing her mouth, not unlike a fish.

“You look like a guppy.”

Lane just shook her head, clearly confused and disoriented.

“I repeat... any ideas on getting Moppet to stop shining?”

“...Heavier blankets?” Lane suggested uncertainly.

“Actually... good idea.” Alexia motioned for Moppet to get back in bed (she had used a second towel in conjunction with her light powers to dry it while Lane was still on the ceiling) before grabbing a heavy wool blanket and making sure to cover her head to toe. Lane, seeing the job done, climbed back into bed before falling asleep in about five seconds.

Nya ran to the room, opening the door. “What the hell happened?! We heard screams and saw flashing lights!”

“It’s all over now.” Alexia grunted. “Go back to bed, we’ve lost enough sleep already...” 

“Are you sure, I cou-”

Alexia closed the door in Nya’s face and followed her own advice, falling asleep in seconds.

The next day...

Lane awoke before frowning, realizing her precious REM cycle was rudely interrupted by SOMEONE. Alexia was already out of bed, likely in the training room or sparring with that hothead. Moppet was still snoring on her bunk (the aging up had not affected how much she slept at night).

Stumbling out of bed, Lane groggily took her meds (even in her worst states, meds came first) and exited the room, finding the Robot outside the girls’ room. “Good morning Lane. Are you well?” The Robot asked.

“Shut up.” Lane grunted, heading towards the dining room to grab some breakfast. The Robot looked stunned for a few moments before carefully following her at a ten foot distance.

Hothead’s Sister was setting out breakfast when Lane entered the room. “Hey, what happened last night?”

“Shut up.” Lane sat down before shoving a bite of breakfast into her mouth.

Hothead’s Sister froze, shocked, as Alexia entered the dining room, freshly showered and having finished her morning sword practice. “Hey Lane.”

“Shut up Alexia.” Lane grunted.

Alexia frowned for a second, brows furrowing, before shrugging. “Did that surprise you too?” Nya asked, still confused.

“I was surprised she used my name, actually. Wait...” Alexia dangled her hand in front of Lane’s face for a few seconds. When Lane ignored it, Alexia drew her hand away. “Okay, she’s only grumpy. I half expected her to bite at my hand.”

“Why would she have done that?”

“Rabies?”

Moppet toddled in, still somewhat asleep with Lloyd behind her. “Is Lane okay?” Lane replied with a snort. “Grumpy, then.”

Lloyd moved to sit down near Lane, only for her to glare at him with a vengeance. “Damn Tiny Person.”

“Tiny Person?” Lloyd asked, befuddled.

“She’s grumpy today, the only people she’s going to address by name are me and maybe Alexia.” Moppet explained.

In a few minutes, everyone was in the dining room eating breakfast and conversing normally, with the exception of Lane. She was just eating slowly, and eying Jerkface Hothead from across the table, who had just made Alexia laugh for some reason.

Kai eventually noticed Lane’s evil eye staring. “Uh, why the staring?”

“Shut up, Jerkface.” Lane mumbled.

“What did you just call me?!” Despite somewhat beginning to get his temper under control, Kai still did not like anyone insulting him.

Lane got up, walked around the table, stared at Kai, and uttered once again, “Jerkface.”

Alexia scrambled out of her seat, grabbing Kai by the waist to keep him from attacking her best friend. “Let... me... go!” Kai barked, trying to maim Lane.

“For god's sake, we all know you’d win, but not before Lane manages to throw any heavy objects within her reach at your head!” Alexia grunted.

As if to prove Alexia’s point, Lane had already grabbed a plate beside her. Zane shot up, and it took a combination of Zane, Alexia, and Nya to separate the two.

“Look, she’s completely grumpy. There is no chance of politeness from her.” Moppet quickly explained to everyone except Zane, who was trying to keep a squirming Lane from hitting Kai over the head. “I promise, tomorrow when she has more sleep,  _ everything _ will be fine! I’ll even get her to apologize for any and all damage, physical and psychological.”

At this point, Zane hefted Lane back to the girls’ room, while Kai stormed off, muttering he was going to ‘take out his problems’. Nya sighed. “I’ll go get him.”

“No.” Alexia stopped her. “It’s partially my fault Lane’s in this state, I’ll fix it.”

In the training room...

Kai was beating his second punching bag to oblivion when he heard a snicker from behind him. “I guess the roles have switched.”

While Kai wanted to stay angry and enraged at everything, it got much harder when he looked back at his girlfriend, who was casually leaning against the door frame. He sighed. “Sorry about that...”

Smiling softly, Alexia went behind the punching bag. “Spotter?”

“Thanks.” Kai continued punching the bag, but to a much lesser extent, and Alexia’s spotting had the bag last a good fifteen minutes. “How are you best friends with Lane? No offense.” He said the last bit quickly, knowing Alexia also had a temper.

“It’s like you being friends with Jay. The dude can’t stop his mouth. When he talks, he says more than me or Lane on a rant about Doctor Who.”

“I guess. At least you never met his parents; they made Jay seem like the silent type.”

“It’s just for one day. Honestly, the first time I saw Lane grumpy, she called me, ‘The Crazy Girl From Down The Street’, shortening it to ‘Crazy Girl’. Moppet had to explain it was actually a term of affection, since she acknowledged our friendship. I wouldn’t be surprised if she called Sensei Wu something horrible.”

Kai sighed again. “Fine...”

“Come on, once practice is done, we can do Fist to Face 2.” Alexia remarked, smiling. While horrible at the game, she enjoyed watching Kai play, especially since he had better swear words than her when he game overed.

Elsewhere...

Lane managed to sneak out of the girls’ room despite Zane’s guarding it, and was rubbing her eyes when Sensei Wu passed. “Ah, Lane. Did you glean the information you wished from the scroll I gave you?”

“Go to goddamned hell... sir.” Lane spat the last word as though it had personally insulted her before turning away. Sensei Wu narrowed his eyes before swatting Lane over the head with his bamboo stick.

“The only reason it was not harder is that your sister informed me of your current condition, and the title ‘sir’ seems respectful. Another word and it will mean chores and extra training on your head.”

In a place which is so far off we have no words to describe it wow this one is really really long I wonder if do0m will notice-

do0m: yes I did notice. get on with the story.

The shadow frowned. He had sensed the spike in power just a week ago, but already it had faded away. “ _ What _ could it have been? That power... that raw power... no.” The shadow snarled. “I ensured this time would be different... The prophecy will not come to pass...”

“Lord!” A soldier now came to him. While the others were fast asleep under Ninjago, this one fed off of the shadow’s energy, and thus was the shadow’s only companion. “I ventured to the temple of Darkness to see if you were correct...”

“And?!” The shadow demanded, turning around. “Speak!”

“My lord...” The soldier’s knees shook; he knew his lord would not be happy if he knew all of their efforts had been wasted.

“Tell me now! I searched the timelines, saw every possible outcome! We have bent destiny to my will!  _ WHAT HAS HAPPENED?! _ ” The shadow yelled, furious.

“They have come...” The soldier whispered. “Those you feared... the other ninja have come to N-” The soldier’s words were cut off as the shadow screamed in fury, destroying the soldier with his power.

“Impossible!” The shadow shrieked. “Years spent eradicating the bloodlines on this plain of existence, years spent separating them from the others, years spent influencing them to stay apart! Years spent to change destiny, to stack the odds with me! How?! HOW COULD THE NINJA HAVE COME TO THIS WORLD?!”


	25. Naivety and Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane remains cheerfully oblivious to her best friend's relationship status while Moppet continues to attempt Spinjitzu and Zane now goes to Kai for advice.

True to Moppet’s promise, Lane returned to her normal, calm self the next morning. She doled out the necessary apologies as well, explaining that in her grumpy self, any ‘nicknames’ that did not contain swear words were generally not disrespectful or mean.

“Still can’t believe you called Kai a ‘jerkface’. I would have expected ‘hothead’.” Alexia mused to her friend. Lane shrugged.

“...That was part of it.”

“Then why the ‘jerkface’ part?”

“Because he’s been so... mean to you!”

Alexia, stunned, didn’t pay attention to where she was walking, and walked right into the girls’ room’s door (she and Lane were walking back to their room after morning training). “OW! Owowowowowow...”

“Are you okay?!” Lane asked, frantic as her motherly nature kicked in. Alexia grunted before nodding, opening the door, and continuing the conversation.

“Since when has he been mean? In the past few weeks, I mean, don’t count the fight I had with him when we first got here... and later that day... and when I called him an asshole during prank week... and when I called him the bane of my existence after one of my sword lessons... and whe- I get your point.”

“See? He’s  _ horrible _ to you! I mean, the fact you two spend time together confuses me! I would have thought you’d be avoiding him.”

Alexia was about to burst out laughing and ask if Lane hadn’t noticed the change before realizing it might be better that Lane didn’t know about her and Kai. “Look, he’s not that bad. I could ask the same question about you and Zane. He practically stalks you, but you’re fine training with him and working on the ship together.”

“Zane is not yelling at me. Besides, he’s smart and we can debate on time travel... if only he would accept the clearly proven theories...” Lane kept muttering on about the finer points of astrophysics while Alexia chuckled.

Moppet, meanwhile, was busy with Lloyd, trying yet again to master her Spinjitzu. “This is impossible!” She gasped after falling on her face yet again.

“No, it’s not. You just keep falling because you need to have confidence in yourself.” Lloyd explained.

“This is not a feel good movie.” Moppet muttered.

“What?”

“Never mind.” Despite being annoyed, Moppet knew better than to tip off anyone about the fact she still considered this a TV show.

“Come on, Alexia is catching up to your level in Spinjitzu. Don’t you want to master it first?”

Moppet shrugged. “I usually come second or third. That way, I can watch the people who do it first, more people help me, and I’m not expected to do anything too dramatic or difficult.”

Staring at Moppet, Lloyd groaned. “Okay, then  _ I _ want my student to master it first. Kai’s training Alexia in sword and Spinjitzu, and it’d be weird if she mastered both before you even master one fighting style.”

“I  _ told _ you, I’m fine with second. Besides, I’ll master Spinjitzu before Lane.”

“Why?”

“Have you seen how she avoids the obstacle course and everything involved with Spinjitzu?”

“Good point.” Lloyd continued to try to get Moppet to use her Spinjitzu, but the closest they got was when Moppet accidentally loosed her light powers instead, resulting in a blind Lloyd and a five minute break.

Elsewhere...

Zane was in the male ninja’s room, pacing. He still had... stirrings... for Lane. And if he asked Jay again, Jay would start asking why he continually asked for advice on his ‘observation’ of Kai and Alexia, especially as the two were no longer fighting.

As luck would have it, Kai walked in, planning on grabbing his practice sword for training. Zane, out of options, decided it couldn’t hurt to ask someone else. “Kai, could you give me some... relationship... advice?”

Kai stopped cold. “Why? And why me?”

“You are in a relationship with Alexia.”

“How did you-”

“You are no longer at each other’s throats and also spend more time together.”

“Oh. So... what exactly do you want to ask?”

Thinking for a few moments, Zane selected the least revealing question in his mind (he could perfect his courting technique later). “When did you... realize you had feelings for her?”

“Uh... It just kind of happened. I mean, when we first met, we hated the other’s guts. Then it went to grudging respect... and I guess the whole ‘affection’ thing just developed.”

“Is this hatred necessary for certainty?”

“No! Look at Jay and Nya, they liked each other from day one. Maybe it’s just unique for each person, I’m new to this.”

Zane sighed in relief, it would have been a pity to destroy what headway he had made with Lane. “Any advice for... figuring out if the other person feels the same way?”

“Zane, are you okay? You’ve been acting off lately.”

“...is that what one is supposed to ask to ascertain another’s feelings for them?”

“No... I’m just asking because you don’t look okay. It’s better to... I dunno, Alexia didn’t ask me and I didn’t ask her. Just... try and see if they do and ask if you really want to know.” Kai exited the room, confused, leaving Zane to attempt to work out how to best approach the strange phenomena known as ‘affection’.


	26. Finally, A Mission!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The female ninja are given their first mission by Sensei Wu, and are eager to prove themselves...

Moppet, having finished another grueling training session with Lloyd (she ended up landing on her face every. single. time.), decided to go and watch some TV, but changed her mind upon reaching the TV room.

The TV was on, but Alexia was curled up next to Kai, both dozing as it was afternoon and the movie on was a generic horror movie with little to scare. Moppet smiled, they were  _ adorable _ , even if she was the only one who could tell the two were dating. It seemed odd to her how Lane couldn’t tell her best friend had gotten her first boyfriend, but Moppet was in no rush to tell her.

Closing the door as quietly as possible, Moppet went looking for Lane, finding her in the main control room, fixing the computer.

“Lane!” Moppet cheered happily, leaping onto her sister, “Hi!”

Lane shouted inarticulately in surprise, Moppet may not be the most skilled ninja on the ship, but she was  _ not _ prepared for Moppet attempting to glomp her. In fact, had Zane not held Moppet back from tackling her sister, Moppet would have landed on the ground as Lane instinctively rolled out of the way of what she saw as a fast moving object.

“Hah! Got You!” Cheered Moppet, “I’ll catch up with you someday Lane!”

Lane looked at Moppet, nonplussed, “You mean the surprise attack score? Aren’t we 1824 to 46 at the moment?”

“47 now!” laughed Moppet.

“You  _ did  _ miss,” commented Zane.

“Yeah, but I caught her off guard. That counts.” Moppet huffed.

Lane sighed, she knew Moppet was not going to be talked out of this, it was better to give her a point and get her back for it later. As luck would have it, the subject was abandoned as Sensei Wu entered the control room. “Could you gather everyone here? There is a matter we must attend to.”

Nodding, Zane let Lane finish (she just had to reconnect a few wires which had frayed) before using the intercom to get everyone in the control room.

“The spirit smoke has shown grave danger.” Sensei began. “The Serpentine have found new uses for their dead stratagem.”

“Uh, English please?” Cole asked.

“He means the Great Devourer’s venom has been leaked into the water supply.” Nya explained. “The cities have cut off the flow, but there are still plenty of people who were affected by the venom.”

“Doesn’t that goo turn you evil?” Kai pointed out.

“Not exactly.” Nya pulled up a file on one of the earliest victims. “If it comes in contact with the skin, it...mutates the person. Some people have two heads, some grew multiple appendages...”

“What’re appendages?” Moppet inquired. Lane whispered it to her sister before Moppet gave a small gasp. “That’s disgusting!”

“You must fight. Cole, Kai, Zane, Lloyd, Jay; contain the infected while Nya works on a solution.” Once the boys left, Sensei Wu turned to the girls. “You have a different task.” He handed them a photo of a plant. “This herb has been known to show healing qualities, and is very delicate and rare; you will go and seek it out in the Wildwood Forest.”

Lane looked at the picture, frowning. “What’s it called?”

“Ginseng.” Sensei Wu handed the photo to her.

Moppet frowned, it sounded familiar, maybe her mom had mentioned it somewhere? Not like it mattered anyway. This was a  _ mission _ . She would walk through poison ivy to succeed in this mission… well… maybe not poison ivy… maybe custard. Yes, she would definitely walk through custard to impress Sensei Wu...

“Alright, let’s go.” Lane snapped Moppet out of her little fantasy of custard, causing Moppet to realize both Alexia and Lane were already armed. Moppet grabbed her claws before following the older girls out.

In Ninjago City...

“Nya wasn’t kidding when she said ‘multiple’!” Kai grunted, trying to fight off but not harm a three armed and four legged man. It fell flat on its back before walking like a spider on all... sevens...

Zane, who had the falcon flying, sighed as the falcon finished calculating the number of mutated in the city. “There are well over one hundred citizens who have mutated.”

“So? Any ideas?” Cole asked, fighting with a two headed and five limbed child.

“Do not harm them, as we don’t know which limbs or heads grew due to the venom and which were already there. Nya is working on whether or not this is permanent.” Zane responded, ducking as three multi-limbed men threw a car at him.

“Remind... me... to...” Jay was panting, as he was continually faced by different opponents. “Get... a... blood sample... for her!”

“Nya has some of the venom on the ship from when we faced the Great Devourer. She’ll be alright!” Kai yelled, forced to use the pummel of his blade to smack a person with a head growing out of his stomach.

Meanwhile…

“Is this it?” Moppet asked, showing Alexia a leaf.

Alexia checked the leaf against the picture. “Nope, we have to keep looking, those people are depending on us!”

Lane nodded grimly.

Also meanwhile…

Nya frowned, she was pretty sure she could cure a human, it wouldn’t even be that hard, but she was sure she was forgetting something…

And back to where we started…

Jay was  _ screaming _ , honestly not that surprising when he had just been attacked by a rat the size of a small horse with three vicious, biting heads, but the sound was still startling.

“Goddammit!” Kai sliced through one of the rat’s heads, figuring it was fine as long as it wasn’t a human. At first, he’d wondered why Sensei hadn’t sent all of them, but right now he was glad, since even Zane was looking slightly squeamish.

“Any luck with the antidote?” Zane asked over comlink.

“Almost... got it!” Nya grabbed the medicine, running outside onto the deck before sliding down the anchor chain. “Just spray them in the face.”

Cole grabbed the spray bottle and tried it on one of the R.O.U.S. It promptly grew another six feet taller and attempted to bite his head off. “Shhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

“It’s only cleared for use on humans dumbass!” Nya shouted angrily as Cole ran from the now even larger R.O.U.S.

Grabbing the bottle from the ground, Zane sprayed a nearby human, who, unlike his rodent counterpart, appeared to choke for a few seconds before reverting to normal. “Must we spray every single human individually?”

“...Kind of.” Nya admitted.

“ _ Fucking fantastic _ .” Kai grumbled.

Nya sighed, “I’ll make more spray bottles…”

Five hours later...

Covered in blood, slime, and who knows what else, the male ninja and Nya were in the control room, finally finished with the killing of all animals and curing of the humans who had been infected.

The door opened, with a muddy Moppet tumbling in, panting. She had been fully prepared to go through custard for this (she had been carrying a spare spoon and everything), but she had  _ not _ been ready or willing to go through a swamp.

“Found the motherfucker.” Alexia and Lane walked in, the former carrying a small plant.

“Uh, I finished the antidote.” Nya explained.

“Then what the hell was this for?” Alexia asked before the plant was taken by Sensei Wu.

“Thank you. This is a wonderful additive to tea and I was worried I might get a cold.” He remarked, chuckling.

Eyebrow twitching, Alexia walked out of the control room. A few seconds later, a slamming of a door and several thuds were clearly audible.

“What wrong?” Kai asked, concerned.

“Either she’s having a small tantrum, or she’s torturing small animals.” Lane replied, walking to the girls’ room. She opened the door a centimeter before closing it promptly. “Yup, just a small tantrum.”

“Should we-” Kai began

“No.”

“What about-”

“No.”

“But-”

“No. Leave her alone. It’ll make her feel better, I promise.”

“...Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Two hours later...

Lane and Moppet cautiously entered the girls’ room, making sure to be close to the door. There were several burst pipes, causing water to have spread out onto the floor, the bunks had nicks and marks from being hit with a sword, and Alexia was currently on her bunk, slamming her head into the wall.

Sighing, Lane grabbed a wrench from under her bed. “I’ll get to work on the pipes...”

Moppet plopped onto her bunk, trying to avoid stepping in the various puddles on the floor. “At least you’re getting better with your powers!”

Alexia just slammed her head into the wall again.

Having managed to fix most of the pipes and stopped the water leakage, Lane went to Alexia’s bunk, grabbing a longbow from underneath. “Go hunt something, we’re low on meat anyway.”

Taking the bow in hand, Alexia left the room, while Moppet turned towards Lane.

“Why does she have a longbow under her bed?”

“Honestly, I don’t think we want to know right now.”

Sensei Wu entered the room, noting the mess. “I see Alexia did not take it well. Her temper rivals that of her teacher.”

Lane shrugged. “Alexia does work believing there will be an outcome worth the work. When the outcome isn’t, she takes out her anger on... whatever is in the room she chooses. Heck, she was peeved when she worked really hard on an essay and then the teacher announced it was just a completion grade.”

“This was a test.” Sensei Wu explained. “I wished to see how you worked together. It would appear you do well when working with each other.”

“Was that why you followed us?” Moppet asked. “To see how we did?”

Sensei Wu raised his eyebrow. “I did not follow you. I was on the ship this entire time.”

“But there was this thing following us.” Moppet insisted. “Every time I looked back, though, it hid from us...”

“Moppet... what did you see?”


	27. And Once Again, Plot Reminds Us Of Its' Prescence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the authors frantically try and write in plot to counterbalance all of the previous fluff, only to make a really long chapter.

Just before dinner, Alexia returned, covered in mud, feathers, and grass, but looking far calmer.

Being on the deck, Kai jumped over the railing, relieved Alexia was alright. “You... you okay?”

“Yeah.” Alexia shrugged. “Maybe I do need those anger management lessons Lane’s been offering, there are only so many ways I can go nuts without legal trouble...”

“Alexia Tyra Johnson!” Lane exited the ship, hands on her hips. “Where in the world is your longbow?” Pausing, Alexia raised her hand, which was holding onto two broken pieces of wood connected by a bowstring. Lane sighed. “Goddangit, I  _ told _ you when you got it that I  _ wouldn’t _ be replacing it!”

“When was the last time you replaced something I bought?”

“It’s the principle that matters.” Lane went back into the ship, shaking her head and mumbling, “ _ Where _ did I go wrong with that child...”

“Is there are reason she just acted like your mother?” Kai asked, confused.

“Eh, she does that whenever me or Mops throws a tantrum.” Alexia explained. “Seriously, though, sorry for earlier.” Kissing her boyfriend’s cheek, Alexia went back inside, with Kai following.

The next day...

Moppet, waking up unusually early, stumbled into the shower. She was still behind Alexia in Spinjitzu, and the older girl was close to matching Kai in swordsmanship (it was about a 1:5 or 1:6 ratio depending on the day). Lloyd was frantic, pleading and near bribery to get Moppet to master her Spinjitzu and powers, but Moppet still firmly told him she was fine with 2nd, or even 3rd.

The gong soon sounded, causing groans to come from the girls’ room. “Whatever happened to regular alarm clocks?” Alexia muttered.

“It wouldn’t have even worked if they used it.” Moppet remarked. “Lane and I can sleep through several loud alarms, Mummy and Daddy would have to wake us up.”

“Christ.”

Alexia hopped out of bed, rubbing her eyes. Moppet shrugged, ignoring her sister’s muffled, “no cursing...”

Toddling into the dining room, Moppet first noticed that Lloyd was sitting at the table, reading a three page letter. “What’s that?”

Looking up, Lloyd shrugged. “This long letter from my old school. Apparently, all the publicity from me being a ninja made the school change to be good instead of evil. They want us to come and visit the students for a pep rally or something.”

“Pep rally? Seriously?” Alexia muttered, still rubbing her eyes as she entered, Lane behind her.

“What? Is there something wrong with them?”

“You’re forced to sit in cold bleachers while people shout at you, expecting you to shout back. No one ever shouts back.”

Reading the letter over Lloyd’s shoulder, Moppet piped up, “It sounds more like one of those assemblies where someone talks at you for an hour.”

“There’s also supposed to be this event afterward for the everyone. They’re serving food.” Lloyd noted.

Having entered the room silently, Sensei Wu chose at this point to speak, causing everyone in the room to jump at the addition of another voice. “One can always use allies in the fight against evil. This is a good opportunity to gain such allies.”

Lane shrugged, “Free snacks are always good.”

Two hours later...

Having arrived at the newly named “Darkly's School for Great Students”, the teachers ushered the ninja into a separate wing. “We’ve gathered the students into one room, and Lloyd will be able to speak to them soon. However, they’ve asked to talk to him alone as he was one of their former classmates.” The headmaster explained.

One of the students came up to Lloyd. “We’ve got something special for teachers, too! David’ll take them there.”

“You’re Brad, right?” Lloyd asked, remembering the boy.

“Yup! C’mon, everyone wants to see you!” Brad grabbed Lloyd’s arm, and Moppet followed, figuring she should go with her teacher and fellow ‘child in a surprisingly adolescent body’.

Another boy led the teachers and rest of the ninja to a room down the hallway with a steel door. “Just go inside, we’ll be back soon!”

“Are you sure?” Lane asked, suspicious.

“They’re good boys,” A teacher insisted, entering the room, closely followed by her colleagues.

Once everyone was inside, the door slammed shut, and sheets of metal covered the walls, separating the room quite firmly from the outside world.

“What the hell?” Kai banged on the door, but only a childish laugh could be heard.

“What kind of room is this?” Jay asked a teacher, who shook her head.

“We’re all new here! The other teachers quit when the school became good.” She remarked, terrified.

“Wait... the school was once an evil fortress, right?” Lane pointed out.

“...Yes” the teacher answered, confused.

“Did the remodel cover removing the prison cells?”

“Of course! We don’t need such horrible things here anymore.”

“What about the panic rooms?”

“No... we figured in case of emergency, they would be the safest places.”

“Then I imagine that we are currently seeing the inside of an exemplary panic room. Honestly, one of the best that I’ve ever seen; the structuring on these walls is fabulous.”

Furious, Alexia took out her sword. “Well... then I’ll let you inspect the  _ fabulous _ exterior of the room!” She remarked, beginning to hack at the steel door.

Elsewhere...

Lloyd walked into the classroom, frowning when he realized Moppet had followed him. “Why aren’t you with your sister?”

“I thought I’d go with you.” Moppet shrugged. “I could be an example of how to be good?”

“...Point taken.” Turning around, Lloyd was  _ not _ expecting to get tasered. He fell unconscious, and Brad smirked.

“Tie him up!” Brad promptly tasered Moppet as well, making her pass out.

Meanwhile... after five minutes...

Lane checked her watch, looking around the room. The teachers were huddled in a corner, scared by the change of events, Zane was inspecting the room to find some sort of way out, Cole and Jay were playing a board game on the ground (who knows where they found it in a room with only one bookshelf on the wall), Kai was watching Alexia with a worried expression, and Alexia was still hacking at the door.

Sighing, Lane walked over to Alexia, grabbing her by the collar. “Alexia, at this point, you’re doing more damage to your sword then the door.”

“What?!” Alexia looked down at her sword, noticing the now blunt edge and several nicks on the katana.

“I’ll help you sharpen it when we get back to the ship.” Kai offered. Groaning, Alexia sheathed her sword and sat down next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

Lane frowned, this was unusual. Typically, when someone wasn’t nice to Alexia, she avoided them at all costs, so  _ why _ was she being nice to the hothead? Filing away that question for later, Lane noticed that Cole had just lost, making him annoyed.

“There’s got to be a way out of here!” Cole grunted.

“Maybe if you pull a book off the bookshelf, a door or secret passageway will open! It happens all the time in movies!” Jay cried, running to the nearby bookshelf, pulling off books. Cole followed, while Lane snorted.

“This is a school full of evil geniuses. Either they are aware of the cliche, or they’ve made that a trap.” Lane explained, dodging the wildly flying books.

“What makes you say-” As Jay grabbed another book, there was a soft ‘click’ heard. A second later, the ceiling began to fall.

“Nice job, nitwit!” Lane groaned.

Elsewhere...

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes, immediately noticing the sharp pain in his chest. “What the...”

“Finally awake, sleepyhead?” Brad sneered. Lloyd snapped to attention, frantically looking around. He was bound to a chair by the chest, ankles, and wrists. He could barely move, and all of his weapons (really just some throwing stars and knives for protection) were gone.

“Where’s Moppet?” Lloyd demanded.

“If you mean the idiot girl who was with you, she’s fine.” 

“Hey!” Moppet shouted from behind a conveniently placed plant, “Please, can you stop insulting me?”

“Shut up. You’re just a girl.” One boy sniggered, causing all the boys (except Lloyd, who was currently trying to get out of his bonds) to laugh.

Moppet’s eyebrow twitched. If there was one thing she, Alexia, and Lane agreed on when it came to right and wrong, it was that the pride and dignity of women should  _ never _ be trampled on by sexist people.

Back to the other room...

After a minute of panic, Lane remarked, “The ceiling’s only falling an inch every minute or so.”

Zane studied the ceiling before nodding. “It is failing approximately 1 inch every 1.47 minutes.”

“Wait... then how long will it take to, you know... smush us?” Kai asked.

“About 2.33 hours.” Zane replied.

There was around three minutes of silence before Alexia groaned. “Goddammit, this sucks. This is  _ completely _ against the principle of YODO!”

“Don’t you mean ‘yolo’?” Cole asked.

“No, YODO. ‘Yolo’ was a fad made to justify doing stupid things like spending money you knew you didn’t have or pissing on a person. ‘YODO’ is ‘you-only-die-once’, thus keeping you from doing something which would end your life unexpectedly early."

When silence was the only response, Lane tried to clarify (while not following the principle, Lame was well acquainted with the idea). “It’s like this: a person prepares to jump off a building, but steps back, thinking, ‘Am I following YODO?’. They then choose to not jump off the building at all, realizing that this will destroy  _ all _ your plans for the next few days, and you would waste all that effort you put into picking your outfit that morning- those bloodstains would be nearly impossible to get out.”

Kai quickly turned to his girlfriend, slightly afraid for her safety. “Are... are you gonna do that?”

“Nah.” Alexia shrugged, “That kind of death has been done. I’m going to live out my life, and when I’m old and going to die anyway, prepare a death. So far, the best one I’ve come up with involves several sharks, fireworks, and the entire vastness of space.”

Lane sighed, “I keep telling her high power explosives would be so much more efficient, but noo...”

Back to Lloyd and Moppet...

While not tied up (adding to the insults, the boys thought girls were so useless that PLANTS would keep her from attacking), Moppet was carefully plotting and remaining where she had been put. So far, thanks to her lessons with Lane, she had already calculated how to overpower the two boys standing guard; the real problem was freeing Lloyd and figuring out how to help Lane and the others, who were likely prisoners as well.

One particularly sexist and  _ annoying _ boy was giving a lecture on being evil and oppressing anyone besides yourself. “Of course, girls do not need to be oppressed; they’re useless and weak anyway.” He claimed, feeding Moppet’s rage. Oh when she was ready, she was going to be  _ particularly _ not-nice to that boy...

Again back to the other room (lots of switching in this chapter)...

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had pudding.” Lane said. At this point, everyone had calmed down, and were just waiting the slow, inevitable death which awaited them.

“...Where’d that come from?” Jay asked.

“Well we were talking about death and I figured, well, that’s something I’ll never get to do now…”

“Don’t you continually make pudding? How have you never tasted it?” Alexia remarked.

“Moppet eats it all first.”

Back to Moppet...

Moppet was  _ furious _ . It had nearly been an hour of horrible, sexist lessons from the boy at the head of the room. She had checked and double checked her incredibly not-nice plan, and was ready to beat some sorry, misogynist head in. She was  _ especially _ ready to show all of them how wrong powerful women could be (she despised lesson 43, which claimed girls had no upper body strength, and could only sit up due to some magical assistance courtesy of males).

“Alright, that’s enough!” Moppet yelled, pushing away the plants and standing up.

“Oh really?” One of her ‘guards’ laughed. “What are you going to do to us? Cry?”

“NINJAGO!”

In a matter of seconds, there were several thunks as all but one boy (excluding Lloyd) were thrown against the wall by Moppet’s spinjitzu. The one boy who was untouched (apart from the painful glare of Moppet’s power) scrambled into a corner, whispering, “oh crud...”

Back to the other room...

Lane stood on tiptoes, and managed to lightly touch the ceiling. “Not long now... maybe...”

“I’ll never get to see Nya again...” Jay whimpered.

“And I’ll never to cook again! I just found a new recipe online!” Cole moaned.

There was a moment of silence before the ninja all gave a simultaneous cheer.

“Suddenly, I don’t mind dying here.” Alexia remarked, patting the wall with an affectionate smile on her face.

Back to Moppet...

Having retrieved her claws and cut Lloyd out of his bonds, Moppet turned to the one conscious boy. “Where are the others?!” She demanded.

“I’ll never tell!” The boy insisted.

***insert one flash of face-meltingly bright light here***

“AAAAHHHH! I’ll take you there, I’m sorry!” The young boy cried.

Aaaaaaaaand the hopefully final transition...

There was a loud banging on the door, crying, and arguing heard outside the door to the panic room. A second later, the door was blasted open by Lloyd’s power. “Are you guys alright?”

“We’re fine.” Everyone shuffled out slowly, with the teachers so traumatized they all ran to their rooms to begin crying.

“Nice job, Lloyd.” Cole praised.

“Actually, it was Moppet.” Lloyd told them.

“Wait... what?”

Lane ran to Moppet, hugging her. “I’m so proud of you!”

Rubbing the top of Moppet’s head affectionately, Alexia chuckled. “Nice job, squirt. Didn’t know you could do that.”

“So Moppet unlocked her Spinjitzu?” Jay asked, wanting clarification.

“Yeah! I’ll show you! Ninja-” Moppet tripped, causing her to fall into Lloyd, who fell into Cole, and the three all fell onto the floor.

“What is wrong?” Zane asked, confused.

“My sister and I are still clumsy.” Lane reminded with a muffled agreement from Moppet.

“But the tripping and skidding on her face incident was 24 chapters ago!” Zane protested.

Lane shrugged, “Our clumsiness knows no bounds.”

Okay we lied there’s one more transition maybe two...

Once back on the ship, Alexia went with Kai into the weapons room, where there was an iron wheel for sharpening. “Sit down at the wheel, I’ll show you how to sharpen.”

After about five minutes of lessons and fifteen minutes of sharpening, Alexia finally managed to get her katana back to having a sharp edge. “Thanks.” She kissed Kai’s cheek, completely unaware that Lane had just walked by.

Lane had been looking to get Alexia’s help in the kitchen, and had decided to wait for Alexia to finish before asking for help. While Lane was still trying to figure out just  _ why _ Alexia and the hothead named Kai had gotten so close, Lane was not prepared for the explanation. In fact, she froze in place.

“Sis?” Moppet waved her hand in front of Lane’s face. “Siiiiiissssss?”

“Alexia... Kai... dating?” Lane squeaked, confused.

“Yeah, didn’t you notice?” Moppet remarked. “It’s been going on for a little while now...”

A thunk was heard as Lane fell onto the floor.


	28. A Day of Rest and Experimentation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A well deserved rest day arrives, and everyone settles into their business for the day.

Alexia sighed, opening the girls’ room’s door. Lane was ignoring her again. “For the thirtieth time, I’m  _ sorry _ !”

“You could have told me.”Lane huffed.

“I thought you already knew!”

“Even so, a 48-hour warning would have been nice.”

“We didn’t  _ know _ it was going to happen 48 hours earlier. It just... happened... and at the time you were... indisposed...”

Lane blinked. “Oh. Alright then.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.” Lane exited the room, and Alexia stared at her retreating back.

_ Well... that was fast. _

The next day...

After waking up, Lane quickly took her meds before rushing into the kitchen. She threw together a breakfast, putting out on the table before hanging a note on the door.

_ Please do not disturb unless you are Moppet. _

**_All violators will be EXTERMINATED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE._ **

_ Have a nice day! _

Placing a laptop on the counter, Lane opened several bookmarked windows revealing just about every pudding recipe in existence. “Alright, no more fooling around; I’m trying pudding even if it kills me!”

Elsewhere...

Though confused at having woken up after Lane, Alexia shrugged it off, planning on going to the training room, only to find Nya waiting outside the door of the girls’ room.

“We’re going shopping.” Nya told her firmly.

“What?” Alexia was still somewhat asleep, and figured she’d heard incorrectly.

“I get that you don’t like it, but you need more than three pairs of pants and four shirts. Plus, there’s a clothing store nearby with tomboy clothing.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“You’ve worn those pants for a week.”

Pausing, Alexia sighed. “Fine, I’ll get ready.”

Two hours later...

Zane was calmly standing by the kitchen. Lane had not left the room since entering, but since Moppet was inside as well, Zane was less worried, more curious as to why Lane had shut herself into the room.

Inside, Lane felt triumphant, holding up the first spoonful of pudding she would ever eat (closely followed by about 100 other variants of assorted flavours and textures), and put it in her mouth.

She grimaced.

She pulled the spoon out.

She sighed.

“Moppet?”

“Yeah?”

“Get Lloyd. You two have a lot of pudding to eat.”

Meanwhile...

Kai opened the sliding door to the control room, looking for Cole to spar with, but found Jay pouring over maps and guidebooks. “Uh... Jay? What’s with the maps?”

“I’m perfecting a delicate plan to a certain event.” Jay muttered, pen in his mouth as he wrote something down on a piece of paper.

“English?”

Jay groaned. “I’m planning my one year anniversary date with Nya.”

“Oh. Is it that hard?”

“Yes! I’m looking at different restaurants and thinking about what activities are available that day and what is going on in different cities and,”

“Whoa! We’re near Jamanakai Village, why not take Nya there?”

“Because it needs to be perfect! I messed up our first date and,”

“And didn’t my sister kiss you?”

“...Point taken.”

Kai shrugged. “Look, I don’t think Nya cares if it’s perfect. She likes spending time with you, even if you’re a motormouth.”

“Hey!”

“Don’t even bother to deny it.”

Cole chose this moment to walk it. “Still planning that date?”

“It’s extremely important! I’ve managed to narrow it down to three different cities, though. Is Zane still circling by the kitchen?”

“Yeah. Every ten minutes he passes by.”

“Same route?”

“Game room, then by the training room, stays on the deck, and then back to by the kitchen door.”

“Why is he doing that?” Jay asked, putting down his clipboard.

“He’s probably just making sure we can get in later for lunch.” Cole remarked. “Or to make sure there’s no explosions, given what happened last time Moppet cooked...”

Later...

Moppet and Lloyd exited the kitchen, both pleasantly full. “This,” Moppet noted, raising her spoon with remnants of pudding. “was a good day.”

Lloyd nodded, “Yep, I didn’t even know there COULD be so many delicious kinds of pudding!”

Moppet frowned, “The bacon-mushroom-marshmallow one was kind of weird, though.”

Lloyd shrugged, “I thought they were all delicious.”

“Speak for yourself. They were all disgusting!” Echoed from the kitchen as Lane washed the myriad of dirty dishes left behind by her herculean pudding-making efforts.


	29. And The Plot (Finally) Thickens...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Garmadon makes his debut for the fic, and the ninja set out to stop him, only for them to end up following him into a timestream...

A few hours after dinner, Jay and Nya returned, with the former extremely happy. “The date actually went well!” Jay said happily as he sat on the couch in the den. Apart from him, there was Alexia, Kai, and Lloyd, all playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

“What do you mean, ‘actually went well’?” Alexia asked, confused.

“The last few times they’ve tried to go out, it’s been a repeat of their first date.” Kai explained.

“What happened?”

“Serpentine attacked in the middle of it.”

“As in...”

“They somehow ended up in the middle of a Serpentine attack.” Lloyd told her.

“...Either they’re completely unlucky or the Serpentine did that intentionally.”

In a really really really really really really really really really really really really really real-

do0m: Stop making these so freaking long!

XW1958: But I can’t find another way to describe it!

do0m: Fine. How about this:

Elsewhere...

XW1958:...Dang you.

The shadow was enraged. The first spike he had dismissed. A fluke. Some... residual power from the last of that line.

But then there had been another spike of a different line. A line fate dictated he could not control, could not corrupt. And already he could feel the growing power of the third destroyed line.

He’d spent eons watching timelines. Looking to alternate dimensions. Prophecies, he knew, were simply when people saw into other dimensions, reflections of their own. They saw what had happened in those dimensions, and what was to come in their timeline.

Thus, he had sent troops to destroy any and all relatives to the three bloodlines. In the beginning, he had contemplated allowing the line of Blood to live, but had decided it was better to eliminate them all.

Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Ice had been problems as well. The shadow had thought he’d killed all of Ice, but then a human had found their crystallized power. It now rested in the chest of the robot. Lighting’s bloodline had been spread throughout Ninjago, along with Earth, making it near impossible to destroy. Fire had hidden themselves well after the destruction of Water, Blood, and Light.

The last bloodline, the family of the Great Spinjitzu Master, had been untouchable. The shadow had decided to destroy the other bloodlines to leave its descendants without teachers. Yet now, three descendants of Blood, Water, and Light had arrived.

“It is  _ impossible _ .” The shadow rasped. “Unless... but how?! How could they have abandoned their own dimension?!”

Back at Destiny’s Bounty (the day after)...

Having mastered Spinjitzu (Moppet still had to make sure there was nothing within tripping distance, but otherwise she’d mastered the art), Lloyd turned to combat. “Spinjitzu isn’t always the best defense, so we’ve got to teach you how to use your claws properly.”

“Don’t I just have to get close enough a claw at their face?” Moppet asked, confused.

“...Yes, but that’s short range. You need to learn to be able to dodge long range shots while getting in closer to hit the opponent.” Lloyd explained. He pointed out Kai and Alexia, the former of whom was using a long thrust to try and hit the latter in the stomach. “Say the other person had a sword. You’d need to dodge it to get in close.”

“Oh. Okay, how do we start?” Moppet said cheerfully.

Two minutes later...

“THAT HURT.” Moppet grunted, rubbing her arm.

“Look, I told you that I was going to aim for your arm. Your claws can catch my sword, remember?” Kai pointed out. Lloyd had offered to help Alexia in Spinjitzu, so the two teachers had temporarily switched students.

Moppet grumbled, normally she’d go to Lane, but since she was still training under her short swords, it was either Kai or Alexia. And as much as she didn’t like it, Moppet knew it was much, much safer to spar with a master than train with a still learning pupil.

Lloyd was currently attacking Alexia, but while she had cleared the training course, Alexia was having the same problem Moppet had had of translating that into Spinjitzu. The end result was different, with Lloyd managing his attack and hitting Alexia somewhere in the chest or on the limbs. “F*ck...” Alexia grunted, rubbing her shoulder. “Moppet, how the hell did you manage Spinjitzu?”

Moppet shrugged. “I actually figured it out two days after starting the training course...”

Lloyd stared at her. “And you refused to do it for weeks?! Why?”

“The only real reason I did it was because my not-nice plan in the boarding school would have been much harder and much less nice. Claws tend to do more permanent damage...”

“Not-nice?”

“We tend to not use bad words.” Moppet said simply.

“We?”

Moppet glanced towards her sister, “We. It makes things easier.”

“How does it-” asked Lloyd.

“Trust me. It does.”

“...Okay...”

Lloyd’s confusion was interrupted by a strikingly loud alarm sounding off. Nya ran outside. “Remember Oroborus?”

“The capital city of the Serpentine? Who could forget?” Kai remarked.

Inside...

“What news did the falcon bring?” Zane inquired. He had sent out the falcon earlier that morning for reconnaissance, as the lack of Lord Garmadon trouble had been unsettling.

The falcon was plugged into the main computer, showing a series of images. “The Serpentine are building an army?” Jay gaped.

“Then we’re going to stop him!” Cole retorted. Before anything else was said, Sensei Wu spoke.

“The final battle is fast approaching.” He pointed to Lloyd. “You must be ready to face your father.”

“Yes, Uncle.” Lloyd’s heart was heavy with grief, and Moppet grabbed his hand, squeezing it to give him comfort.

In Oroborus...

“Faster!” Lord Garmadon commanded. The Serpentine were working on snake tanks as well as beefing up their helicopters for battle. “We must be ready for when the ninja strike!”

“Then you’re already too late!” Lord Garmadon froze as he heard the cursed voice of the ninja’s leader.

“Whatever you’re planning, we’ll stop!” Jay vowed.

“Ugh! You... insolent ninja!” Lord Garmadon prepared to use his Mega Weapon to attack, only for Lloyd to jump out and freeze it. “Imposs- Lloyd?” Lord Garmadon’s voice shook as he recognized the older form of his son. “It can’t,”

“I’ve grown a little since you last saw me.” Lloyd said flatly.

“S-stop him!” Lord Garmadon rasped. The Serpentine promptly surrounded the ninja as Lord Garmadon ran.

“NINJA-GO!” The boys plus Moppet took out most of the Serpentine, while Alexia and Lane were forced to make do with their weapons.

“Target the weak onessss!” Skales ordered. Lane and Alexia were quickly cut off from the others to the dismay of their teammates.

“Fuck!” Alexia continued to hack and slash at the Serpentine, but the snakes kept coming.

“Language.” Lane muffled as she blocked an upward strike.

“Alexia! You’ve got to concentrate!” Kai yelled, praying she would be alright.

“ _ Gottverdammt _ -” Alexia swore as one of the Serpentine managed a blunt hit on her arm. The resulting anger finally pushed her limits to a new point. “Ninja-go!” An aquamarine tornado appeared, and soon enough the Serpentine surrounding Alexia and Lane were either knocked out or fled.

“Are you both alright?” Zane asked, as Lane was thoroughly exhausted while Alexia was on her knees, trying to regain a sense of balance.

“...Fine... Just... a... bit... disorientated.” Alexia gasped. Kai helped her up and after a moment Alexia was okay.

Elsewhere...

Lord Garmadon was furious. He had ducked into one of Oroborus’ buildings, chipping away at the ice on his Mega Weapon. “Blast these ninja!” Lord Garmadon shouted. “If only they weren’t around! If only they’d never existed!” He slammed the Mega Weapon on the wall again, causing the last of the ice to break off. Lord Garmadon slowly recognized his previous words and began to smile.

“Yes... yes, that’s it!” He cried. “I wish... that I could go back in time... and make it so the ninja were never formed in the first place!” The Mega Weapon began to glow, emitting a beam which began to open a vortex.

“Now... to finish the ninja once and for all... so that my son never becomes  _ the green ninja _ ,” The last three words were spat out in scorn as Lord Garmadon jumped into the vortex.

Immediately after, the building was stormed by the ninja and Sensei Wu. “Garmadon used the Mega Weapon again!” Cole groaned.

“Oh swell, every time he uses that thing, something really bad happens!” Jay sighed. “Now what?”

In response the ground began to shake. “What’s going on?!” Kai yelled, grabbing Alexia for both his sake and hers.

“Is... is that sand?” Moppet asked worriedly.

“The city must be returning back into the desert as if it had never been found in the first place!” Zane observed.

“What does that mean? What’s going on?!” Nya shouted.

“That vortex must be a breach in the space-time continuum!” Lane answered, struggling through the sand. “But why was it created?”

“Uh oh...” Lloyd stared at his hands. “I... I can’t feel my hands...”

Moppet tried to grab Lloyd’s arm, but her hand shifted through. “You’re disappearing!”

“Garmadon must have gone back in time to prevent Lloyd from becoming the Green Ninja.” Zane remarked, already calculating that this had a probability of 97.39%.

“Ugh! If he messes with the past, the entire timeline could shatter! We’ve got to follow him.” Alexia said, knowing from Doctor Who that paradoxes were  _ never _ a good thing.

“Remember: if he changes anything, he changes everything!” Sensei Wu warned. “Protect the future, ninja!”

The ninja (minus Lloyd, who was beginning to flicker) struggled out of the sand and promptly jumped into the vortex, where a blinding light caused all of them to lose sight of the others.


	30. PLOT AND LOTS OF IT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the authors get just a bit carried away with the length of the chapter...

In the vortex...

The ninja had not accounted for the size of the time portal when they had leaped in (it had only been meant for a single traveler), and the resulting ride through time was rather... intense, in this case meaning that the ninja were being tossed around like rag dolls, and during a particularly bad moment of turbulence, the group was thrown apart, before suddenly...

“Aaaaaaagh!” Moppet shot through the air, landing on a soft, large pile of neatly stacked hay bundles. She spat out hay which had gotten into her mouth. “Well that was rather anti-climatic,” Her thoughts were interrupted by the crash of a tree falling on the ground. “That’s more like it!”

Alexia stumbled from the wrecked tree and broken branches. “I know... that a tree... is... a good thing... to land on... BUT THAT HURT, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

Moppet sighed, expecting her sister to comment, only to realize that Lane wasn’t nearby. “I guess we all landed in different places...”

The shouting of a farmer with the words, ‘alien robot’ thrown in there was a quick indication of where Zane landed. Moppet and Alexia quickly found a farmer pointing his pitchfork at Zane, who was calmly laying on the ground. “You won’t take my freedom, alien!”

“Uh, that’s our friend.” Alexia explained, trying to get leaves and twigs out of her hair and clothing while Moppet picked off pieces of hay.

“Oh, it’s a friendly robot?” The farmer asked. “Sorry, seeing a robot fall out of the sky was... scary...”

“Did you see anyone else land nearby? Like, someone in blue or red or black or dark charcoal?” Moppet asked.

Before the farmer could answer, a loud, “DON’T EAT ME” shout was clearly heard. “Yup, that’s Jay.” Alexia muttered, grimacing as she grabbed the last twig out of her hair before retying it into a ponytail.

Jay was in a pigpen, running away from a large, mud covered pig. “Get away get away get away get away get away get away!”

“Aw... it’s Mr. Snuffles Sr.!” Moppet cooed. “He’s so adorable when he’s trying to run over someone!”

“But Mr. Snuffles does not hurt people, correct?” Zane asked.

“Only when I tell him to.” Moppet replied.

While normally Alexia would consider this a joke, since she was in a cartoon world, she made a mental note to ask Moppet later if she was serious. “Okay, why don’t you get Mr. Snuffles Sr. to stop attacking Jay?”

“Okay!” Moppet entered the pen and, with her lovable face and light powers to blind the pig, managed to get Jay out unharmed.

“That leaves Kai, Cole, and Lane. Split up!”

Elsewhere...

Spitting out rice and water, Kai got off the wet rice fields, trying to regain his bearings. “Where... no, when am I?”

“Kai!” Alexia, having spotted Kai from a nearby hill, ran to him. “You’re okay!”

“Alexia!” The pair hugged before Kai pulled away to look around. “Any idea where and when we are?”

“Nope. All we know is that we’re on a rice farm and that we seem to have landed at high velocity across the whole landscape...” Alexia responded.

A loud crash followed by a, “My hooooooooouuuuuuussssssse!” directed the pair, along with Moppet and Zane, to a nearby farm house. There was a large hole in the roof and through the two floors, and Cole stumbled out of the house, coughing.

“I just fixed that roof last week!” The farmer moaned.

“Well sir... I can tell you... that it was a good roof...” Cole coughed, trying to ignore the pain throughout his body.

“That’s everyone except Lane. Where is she?” Moppet asked, worried.

“We should get a move on. She will catch up later.” Zane promised.

Later...

“Any idea where we’re going?” Jay asked.

“Look, the farmer said there’s a village nearby. Let’s check it out.” Cole answered.

“Wait a minute...” Kai paused. “This... seems familiar...”

“Maybe this village was attacked by Serpentine and we responded?” Alexia pointed out.

“No...” Kai ran ahead, closely followed by Alexia with the others a few feet behind. “It’s... Ignacia. There’s my parents shop, ‘Four Weapons’. Nya and I used to work there- hey, wait a minute... this is the day Garmadon ordered the skeletons to take my sister! We need to warn them!”

“Whoa whoa whoa! You heard Sensei Wu; we change anything, we change  _ everything _ .” Cole reminded.

“Yeah, I was confused by that point too.” Jay muttered.

“He meant that time periods are, from a linear standpoint, the direct result of chain reactions.” Alexia explained. “If the events making up each link in the chain don’t occur,”

“Then the future would change. And the smallest changes can have the largest effects.” Moppet finished. When everyone just looked at the pair, confused, Moppet sighed. “We’re Whovians. We’re both well versed in time travel and the dangers of paradoxes.”

“So we’ve got to stop Garmadon from doing anything?” Jay asked. “But of all of the times, why did we land here?”

“Because this is where it all started. Today I met Sensei Wu for the first time and I began my training as a ninja.” Kai said. “Somehow Garmadon is going to try and prevent that. But how?”

There was a pause before Cole sighed. “If only Sensei Wu were here to guide us.”

“Wait, there he is!” Jay pointed to Sensei Wu, who was walking up the road to the shop. “Maybe he can help us!”

“Is that the best idea?” Moppet asked worriedly.

“Sure! We’ve got to tell him what Garmadon has done!” Cole answered. Moppet looked to Alexia, who didn’t like the idea any more than Moppet did. At the same time, Alexia didn’t have any better ideas.

“But we can’t let the old Kai and Nya see that we talk to him, or else it  _ will _ affect the future.” Zane reminded.

“Hmm... I know exactly what to do!” Kai led the others as they skillfully hid from view with the help of rocks as the conversation between past-Kai and Sensei Wu was clearly head.

“...and the shop is called ‘Four Weapons’, not ‘For Browsing’. Either buy something or peddle your insults somewhere else.” Past-Kai told Sensei Wu.

“Hah! Too bad!” Sensei Wu scoffed. “Thought I’d find something special here.”

“Christ, he was rude.” Alexia muttered. Kai sighed.

“Maybe, but back then so was I.”

“You  _ were _ ?” Jay sniggered while Kai glared at him.

As Sensei Wu walked out of the shop, Kai slipped from the ninja’s hiding place and grabbed Sensei Wu from behind, putting his hand over Sensei’s mouth to keep him muffled. “Sensei, we need your help!” Kai whispered urgently.

“Whoa whoa wait a minute! If we’re trying to stop Garmadon from changing anything, wouldn’t talking to Sensei be like alerting the past, thus changing our future?” Jay realized.

“That would be correct. I believe a big ‘uh-oh’ is in order.” Zane replied.

“ _ This _ is why I didn’t like this idea.” Moppet grumbled.

“Uh...” Sensei Wu uttered, completely confused as to why three of his students were here with the fourth he had just tried to recruit along with two girls he did not recognize.

“Well, we can’t undo what we’ve already done.” Kai groaned. “Sensei... we really need your help!”

“All six of you... you, you...” Sensei began.

“Traveled back in time to warn you!” Alexia finished.

“Technically there are eight of us, but one was stuck in the future and we’re still looking for Lane.” Moppet added.

“We don’t have time to explain. Can you help us?” Kai asked.

“I... don’t understand. But I can try.” Sensei Wu confirmed.

“...That was easy.” Cole noted.

“Okay, any minute now, the skeletons are gonna attack, and we think Garmadon may try to hurt me. I mean the past me!” Kai explained.

“Garmadon?” Sensei Wu felt his confusion slip away to panic.

“We have to do everything in our power to protect my past self.” Kai finished as the sky began to cloud over.

“I think we just ran out of time!” Moppet squealed. The skeletons came into view at the top of the hill down the road, shouting in unison,

“ATTACK!”

Villagers ran away in all directions, but the ninja remained hidden by the shop. Sensei Wu started to go forward to help, only for Kai to stop him. Kai’s past self soon exited the shop in samurai armor and a sword in hand, attacking the skeletons.

“Can we help them?” Kai asked.

“Don’t look at me. I’m wise but not that wise.” Sensei Wu answered. The male ninja looked to Alexia and Moppet, the former sighing.

“Right now, it could just be Sensei Wu never told us about him meeting us in the past to prevent time from being disintegrated. The past might not have changed yet.” Alexia murmured. “In fact, it would explain how Sensei Wu came back so quickly.”

“As long as past-Kai doesn’t see his present self, we should be fine.” Moppet said. “So yes, we can kick skeleton butt.”

“You just made my day, Moppet. I miss beating these guys up!” Cole responded.

Jay frowned as he heard sounds behind him, and the group turned to see skeletons had found them. Jay took out his nunchucks (though in turn the skeletons made nunchucks out of their own arms), quickly and effortlessly taking out the skeletons. “Ninja-go!” The others fanned out, save for Kai and Sensei Wu.

“Watch for when Samukai throws his daggers. And don’t forget to save me!” Kai warned Sensei Wu. When his words were met with confusion, Kai groaned. “It’ll all make sense when it happens!”

By this point, past-Kai was surrounded, and past-Nya began fighting the skeletons to help her brother, While past-Nya fought against the skeletons, past-Kai found himself staring down Samukai’s four daggers. Samukai easily disarmed past-Kai, causing him to fall without the ability to stand due to his heavy armor.

“Sensei!” Kai turned to the old man, who nodded.

“I’m on it! Ninja-go!” Sensei Wu’s golden tornado quickly knocked over Samukai, but the blow also knocked one of Samukai’s daggers from his grip. The dagger flew into the air and began its descent... aiming for past-Kai’s chest.

“SHIT!” Alexia disregarded hiding, shouting, “NINJA-GO!” She barely made to past-Kai in time, and the dagger instead grazed her own cheek.

“Who are,” Past-Kai’s words were cut off by Samukai’s chuckle, giving Alexia the opportunity to run back to the hiding spot.

“Sensei Wu! Your spinjitzu looks rusty!” He cackled.

“Nothing like bone to sharpen its edge, Samukai!” Sensei Wu replied.

“Alexia, are you okay?” Kai asked worriedly. His girlfriend nodded.

“Just a small cut. Nothing bad, I promise.”

Samukai, noting the water tower nearby, smirked and threw his remaining three daggers at the tower, causing it to begin to collapse. Releasing this was the moment Kai had spoken of, Sensei Wu quickly shouted, “Ninja-go!” rescuing past-Kai from being crushed.

“Lord Garmadon says take the girl!” Samukai commanded, having returned to the vehicle. At the clawshot, Garmadon knocked out the skeleton manning the device before firing it himself, taking care to miss. “You fools! You missed! Retreat!” The bone vehicle turned around, letting Nuckal see past-Kai on one side of the fallen water tower and present-Kai on the other with Sensei Wu.

“What is it?” Kruncha demanded.

“Uh... nothing!” Nuckal promised.

Present-day...

Sensei Wu looked out at Ninjago City, and shuddered as he saw black clouds forming above the city. “Oh my goodness...” Inside, Lloyd had been laid to rest on his bunk, being brought food by Nya. Now, however, as she entered with a bowl of soup, it clattered to the floor.

In the den, there were several pictures on the wall, many new ones due to the arrival of Lane, Alexia, and Moppet. But from all of them, Lloyd soon disappeared.

Back to the past...

“This isn’t good.” Kai moaned.

“Why? We saved you and your sister.” Sensei Wu noted.

“No! The skeletons were supposed to get away with Nya!” Kai sighed. “The only reason you convinced me to become a ninja in the first place was to get her back.”

“Oh. I see...”

“Sensei.” Zane stepped forward. “No matter what, you need to convince Kai to go with you.”

“Why?” Jay asked. Moppet promptly facepalmed and Alexia just shook her head as Jay missed the obvious tension behind the situation.

“Because if Kai doesn’t become a ninja, the world as we know it will never exist.” Zane remarked. “The four of us will never unite, will never train Lloyd to become the green ninja! Lane, Alexia, and Moppet will never received their training! And Nya will never fall head over heels for Jay!” The last bit was added to be sure Jay properly understood the situation, and it worked with clear results; Jay’s face blanched as horror set in.

“NO MATTER WHAT, YOU NEED TO CONVINCE HIM TO GO WITH YOU!” Jay yelled, petrified. His shouting naturally attracted attention, as past-Kai started walking towards Sensei Wu, forcing the ninja to hide behind the water tower.

“Thank you for your help! If it wasn’t for your... twistitsu or... tonardzu... my sister might have been taken!” Past-Kai said gratefully.

The other ninja slowly turned to Kai, who smiled in embarrassment as he remembered when he had butchered the term ‘spinjitzu’. Alexia sighed; at this point, Kai must have been an airhead. A cute airhead, but an airhead nonetheless.

“Spinjitzu. Uh, come. We must train. You must become a ninja.” Sensei Wu replied.

Past-Kai chuckled. “Sorry, but I’ve got a blacksmith’s shop to help get back on its feet, so I,”

“No!” Sensei Wu interrupted. “You must come. It is very important that you become a ninja. Because... erm... we must harness the fire within you!”

“Isn’t Sensei Wu like, the wisest person ever? Why is he stammering?” Moppet insisted.

“Try to imagine being led into a room and being told you have to give a full length speech on the laws of the diamond trade with no aids.” Alexia whispered. Moppet paused before rummaging through her pockets, pulling out her emergency ‘diamond trade laws’ notecards (Lane took ‘be prepared’ to the next level) before Alexia sighed. “Never mind.”

“Hold on, Kai. Maybe there’s a reason this man came into our lives. Father always said the world works in mysterious ways. I think it sounds kind of exciting!” Past-Nya remarked.

“Huh, okay, if you want to become a ninja, fine by me. But I’m only going because you want to.” Past-Kai replied.

“Oh, great, he’s going.” Jay sighed in relief. “We saved the future,”

“No we didn’t,” Alexia and Moppet chorused.

“We still have to make sure Kai becomes a ninja in order for everything to get back on track.” Zane reminded. 

_ And at this rate, it doesn’t look likely. _ Alexia thought to herself.

Elsewhere...

In the desert, Nuckal saw a pair of dead trees. “Do you see two trees or one?” He asked Kruncha.

“Two, you imbecile!” Kruncha grunted.

“Stop goofing around! We failed our mission and Lord Garmadon is really going to let us have it!” Samukai groaned. Behind his skeleton mask, Lord Garmadon smirked.

_ Actually, once I explain everything to him, I think he’ll give you a reward. _ Lord Garmadon silently cackled.

“I just wanted to know if I was seeing double!” Nuckal insisted. “I thought I saw the same ninja twice back there.”

Lord Garmadon stiffened as the rest of the skeletons disregarded Nuckal’s words. “Double?!” He muttered quietly. “So the ninja followed me here. And they think they can stop me? They are as annoying as they are troublesome! Well, two can play at this game...”

The next day...

The ninja tailed past-Kai and Nya along with Sensei Wu to the old monastery, forced to spend a night in the branches of nearby trees. It was midday, and the ninja were watching as past-Kai and Nya trained. It was painfully obvious that while past-Nya took the training seriously, past-Kai wasn’t even trying to train.

“You must harness the fire deep within you, Kai.” Sensei Wu reminded as the punching bag past-Kai was hitting swatted past-Kai in the face.

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Past-Kai muttered, not even listening.

Kai groaned. “I’m worthless!” Alexia patted his back, though to a certain measure... she agreed.

“It’s like you don’t even want to be a ninja.” Jay observed.

“Look, I told you, the only reason I became a ninja was to rescue my sister.” Kai retorted.

“If Kai doesn’t become a ninja, our future will be destroyed.” Zane whispered.

“Ugh, even when Garmadon does something good, it’s always evil!” Cole grunted. “Sensei ain’t cutting the mustard. Guess it’s up to us to get things back on track.”

“Mmm... custard...” Moppet sighed, they hadn’t eaten in ten hours other than the snacks Moppet carried with her at all times, but split six ways two bags of chips and a granola bar wasn’t much.

“I thought you said we shouldn’t get involved. Change anything, change everything?” Jay pointed out.

“Jay, right now, if we interfere a bit more... focused... on exactly what to change, it might revert to the original future.” Alexia explained. “Otherwise... we’re completely screwed.”

“She’s right. The only way to save our future is for Kai to find his fire.” Zane said slowly.

“What’re you trying to say, Zane?” Jay asked.

“We have to give Kai his motivation back.” Zane answered. “We have to kidnap Nya, and deliver her into the hands of the skeletons.”

“If that’s what it takes...” Kai sighed. “Alright. If it’s alright with you guys, I’ve got an idea on how I can talk some sense into myself.”

That night...

As the inhabitants of the monastery settled down for the night, Zane, Cole, and Jay crept into the monastery, silently entering Nya’s room. They removed their masks, and Jay cradled Nya’s cheek, trying to find the courage (or stupidity, depended on who you asked) to be able to hand his girlfriend over to the skeletons.

“Time to play our parts.” Cole handed out the skeleton masks. “Remember, Alexia and Moppet are outside waiting to get Nya to a safe distance.”

“We’ll have to act quickly while Kai is keeping himself busy.” Zane whispered, grabbing the body bag.

Nya awoke at the sound of Zane’s voice, but could only gasp before being stuffed into the bag.

In another room...

Past-Kai was brushing his teeth, getting ready to hit the sack. While the idea of becoming a ninja was cool and all, he really just wanted Nya to become a ninja quickly so they could go home. As he was spitting the toothpaste residue into the sink, Kai removed the glass from behind, having put on an identical pair of pajamas to past-Kai’s.

As past-Kai looked up, Kai quickly played the part as his reflection, mirroring past-Kai’s movements to a T until...

“Hey dummy!” Past-Kai yelped in alarm, stumbling back as Kai spoke. “Yeah, I’m talking to you!”

“Me?” Past-Kai asked, confused. Kai internally groaned at his former self.

“Would you get your head on straight and start listening to Sensei? The fate of the world kinda rests on it.” Kai replied.

Outside...

“Unhand me, skeletons!” Past-Nya ordered.

“Uh, I’m sorry Nya,” Jay said, praying Nya would never connect the dots in the future and realize Jay had kidnapped her.

“How’d you know my name?!” Past-Nya demanded. “Oh, when my brother finds out about this, you’ll be sorry!”

“Actually, he’ll be quick relieved.” Cole chuckled, looking for Alexia and Moppet, who had... ‘procured’ a motorcycle.

“Uh, guys? We’ve got company!” Zane hissed. Sure enough, three black-clad ninja were in the monastery courtyard.

Jay gulped. “Isn’t that, um, us?!”

“Better lower our masks so they don’t recognize us!” Cole remarked. Leaving the bag on the roof, the three fought against their past selves, finding it difficult to fight someone who knew your movements. “Let’s not hurt ourselves, boys; I’d hate to leave a mark!”

Nodding, Zane put away his shurikens, using loose ceiling tiles as projectiles.

“Guys! HELP!” Past-Nya shouted.

Inside, her brother heard her. “Nya!” Past-Kai turned away from the mirror, causing Kai to snort.

“Hey! I wasn’t done talking to you! You can’t leave!”

“Why not? You’re just my reflection!” Past-Kai shot back.

Thoroughly peeved, Kai jumped through the mirror’s hole, punching past-Kai in the face. “Sorry, but I can’t have you spoiling our plans.”  _ And you’re an asshole. _

Alexia, wondering what, in her words, was taking so goddamned long, had run up the mountain to the monastery to see what was going on. Seeing a battle scene between the past and present versions of the ninja summed it up nicely. “Time travel without a capsule; it just sucks like hell.” She groaned.

Kai ran out, ninja suit and skeleton mask on. As the bag containing past-Nya began to roll down the roof, Kai ran and managed to barely catch Nya. “Why does time travel have to be so complicated?!”

“Over here!” Kai ran to Alexia, handing over the bag.

“Meet us at the rendezvous point. We’ll be there!” Kai assured her.

“Alright, be careful!” Alexia ran down the mountain, where Moppet was waiting with the motorcycle. “Let’s go!”

At the monastery, having seen the successful kidnapping of Nya, the male ninja quickly defeated their past selves with spinjitzu before slipping away to the walls. Sensei Wu ran out as Past-Kai entered the courtyard. “They took Nya.” Sensei Wu said gravely.

“What? They took my sister? No!” Kai shouted.

Present day...

The den’s photos began to once again shimmer. Now, Lloyd slowly returned to the photographs, and in the boys’ room the empty bunk was once again occupied by a now sleeping Lloyd.

Aaaaaaaand back to the past...

“We’ll get your sister back.” Sensei Wu promised past-Kai. Looking to the outer wall, he nodded to the future ninja, holding back a smile as he knew this was their handiwork. “But first, I want you to meet your team.”

“Looks like the fire returned.” Kai smiled, and the four male ninja slipped away into the night. They quickly met up with Alexia and Moppet in the forest before heading out, past-Nya in tow, to the skeleton camp.

“All we gotta do to get back on track is to deliver Nya to the skeletons.” Cole whispered. The ninja silently moved across tree branches, keeping out of sight. At the camp, the skeletons were laughing around a fire before Samukai came and scolded them.

“This is no time to celebrate! We didn’t get the girl!” Samukai barked. “How would you like to go back to the Underworld to tell Lord Garmadon that we failed?!”

Kruncha snorted. “‘Tell Lord Garmadon that we failed’, me-me-me-me” He repeated mockingly, sitting under a tree away from the fire. Having positioned themselves above Kruncha, Kai gently (or as gently as possible) dropped past-Nya in front of the skeleton. Kruncha, surprised, looked up, but the ninja had already snuck away. Shaking his head, Kruncha opened the sack, surprised to find a furious, but restrained, Nya in the sack. Closing it tightly, Kruncha looked over at the fire. “Uh, Samukai? How would you like to go back to the Underworld and tell him, we succeeded?”

Elsewhere...

Samukai bowed to Lord Garmadon’s shadow. “Master Garmadon, we have the girl.”

“Good...” Past-Garmadon’s shadow whispered, chuckling. Once Samukai left, Lord Garmadon slyly entered the chamber. “What is the meaning of this?!” Past-Garmadon’s shadow demanded, enraged.

“It is I, your future self.” Garmadon informed him.

“How can it be?” Past-Garmadon’s shadow rasped.

“I know you are searching for the golden weapons. And it because of them I have gone back in time! And stand before you now.” Garmadon explained.

“I don’t understand. You have- I have four arms?” Past-Garmadon’s shadow whispered.

“Yes! And I need your help to get rid of the ninja once and for all! Listen carefully.” Leaning over, Past-Garmadon’s shadow listened as Garmadon quickly told him his plan of attack.

“That is truly evil.” Past-Garmadon’s shadow cackled.

Present day (again)...

Once more black clouds filled the sky. Sensei Wu could also feel Lloyd disappearing from existence as before. “Great scott!”

Back to the past (again)...

The ninja sat in a tree with Sensei Wu above their sleeping past selves. “Ugh, I don’t understand, Why are we still here?” Jay whined. “I thought everything was back on track.”

“Do I have to you explain it a fifth time?” Moppet hissed. “We’ve got to stay in the past to make sure that nothing else goes wrong with the timeline. Plus, we’ve got no way to get back home unless Zane manages to figure out how to build a functioning time machine, so until then... we’re kinda stuck here!”

“So what exactly happens next?” Sensei Wu inquired.

“Our former selves have most of the Golden Weapons. Shadow Garmadon should now have my sister.” Kai explained. “And in about one minute, I get woken up and tricked into taking the Sword of Fire that’ll eventually unleash the greatest nemesis onto Ninjago.”

“All in all, not your best day.” Alexia teased. Kai scowled at her and she smirked, winking at her boyfriend which calmed him down slightly.

“Nya!” Past-Kai called. “Wait up!” He dashed towards the Fire Temple, followed closely by the ninja and Sensei Wu.

“This is when I steal the Sword of Fire and cut my sister down.” Kai continued, watching from a cluster of rocks with the others. “Then I get attacked by my own shadow.”

Past-Garmadon’s shadow threateningly lowered past-Nya by about a foot, causing past-Kai to run to his sister. “Tick-tock. Tick-tock.” Past-Garmadon’s Shadow taunted.

Without a second thought past-Kai grabbed the Sword of Fire, yelling, “Ninja-go!” He cut the chain, grabbing past-Nya before landing safely on the ground.

Past-Garmadon’s shadow began laughing as past-Kai led Nya to the exit. “Stay close.” He said.

“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere.” Past-Nya whispered, petrified.

“You can’t hurt us! You’re only a shadow!” Past-Kai yelled.

“This time, I’m actually much more!” Past-Garmadon’s shadow cackled.

“Wait, he never said that before.” Kai said, growing worried. “Something’s different.”

Sure enough, Garmadon walked out from behind a set of rocks, holding his Mega-Weapon and poised to strike. “Garmadon? You’re supposed to be trapped in the Underworld!”

“Oh, there’s so much more you don’t know!” Garmadon grinned.

“Go, future me! Destroy him!” Past-Garmadon’s shadow ordered. Garmadon charged, forcing past-Kai to block his strikes.

“We have to do something! I don’t stand a chance against Garmadon’s four arms!” Kai yelled.

“Alright, screw the rules of time travel; we’ve fucked it up already, let’s go!” Alexia told him.

Kai and Alexia jumped out from rocks as Garmadon knocked the Sword of Fire from past-Kai’s hands. The pair then leapt in front of past-Kai and past-Nya, causing Past-Garmadon’s shadow to gasp. “Two Kai’s?”

“Tag team?” Kai asked Alexia.

“Anytime!” Alexia parried Garmadon’s attacks before bending down and allowing for Kai to jump off her back to the wall. This enabled Kai to drive Garmadon back, letting Zane and Moppet join the fight along with Cole, who backed Garmadon into a corner. Unfortunately, even with it being four on one, Garmadon was able to throw them back.

“I think it’s safe to say the past has drastically changed!” Cole grunted. Garmadon and Past-Garmadon’s shadow celebrated the notion with a victory dance.

“I was thinking about that.” Zane replied. “It could be possible to erase the events which have transpired so far by destroying the Mega-Weapon in the first place,”

“Thus preventing the cycle from ever being started! Zane, you’re a genius!” Moppet cried.

“However, this idea is purely theoretical.” Zane added quickly.

“But nothing can destroy the Mega-Weapon! Only a weapon of equal power has any chance of stopping it!” Cole argued.

“Like, maybe the weapons forged to create it in the first place?” Jay entered the Fire Temple holding the other three golden weapons.

Garmadon’s and Past-Garmadon’s shadow victory dance was cut short as Garmadon caught sight of Jay. “No!”

“The Golden Weapons!” Cole realized.

“Yeah, I thought these might come in handy.” Jay smirked.

“Stay back. We don’t know what will happen.” Zane warned Alexia and Moppet. Nodding, the two girls took cover.

“We’ve got to destroy the Mega-Weapon once and for all!” Kai yelled. “Fire!”

“Lightning!”

“Earth!”

“Ice!”

The four concentrated beams hit the Mega-Weapon, causing it to shake. “No! What are you doing?!” Garmadon screeched.

“Ninja-go!” Sensei Wu channelled his own power to force the Mega-Weapon from Garmadon’s hands, The Mega-Weapon was soon surrounded by the Golden Weapons, causing all five to merge before the Mega-Weapon shot into the sky, exploding into bits. The earth began to shake as time started to mend itself.

“Nya! What’s happening?!” Past-Kai tried to grab his sister, only for her to fade away as the timeline began to correct the damages made.

The ninja of the present felt their bodies begin to fade, and sure enough,

Present day (yet again this should be the last one)...

Slowly, the ninja opened their eyes. They were all on the deck, lying on the floor. “What just happened?” Cole asked, rubbing his eyes.

“We’ve gone back to the present day... but wasn’t Lloyd training with you?” Kai asked Alexia, who paled.

“The time stream must have been corrupted beyond repair.” She whispered. Moppet hung her head.

“We were too late...” Moppet whimpered, beginning to cry.

“Sorry!” Lloyd ran out onto the deck, panting. “Didn’t mean to take so long,”

“LLOYD!” Moppet ran to her teacher, tackling him to the ground. “I-I th-thought I-I’d n-n-never s-s-see y-you again!” She bawled.

“Because I went to the bathroom?” Lloyd asked, confused.

“So when we went back in time and destroyed Garmadon’s Mega-Weapon, it didn’t change anything?” Jay pieced together.

“My father has a Mega-Weapon?” Lloyd said, alarmed.

“Wait a minute. You’ve never heard of it?” Kai questioned.

“I think I would have remembered that.” Lloyd remarked. “Why? What is it? Should I be concerned?” Out of sheer relief, everyone except Lloyd and Moppet (who was still fiercely hugging Lloyd) began laughing. “Hey, what are you guys laughing at? What so funny?”

“That’s a long story, Lloyd. One we’d... rather not discuss.” Alexia replied, recovering from her laughter.

“Wait... where is Lane?” Zane looked around the deck. “We never found her. She might still be stuck in the past!”

A feeling of horror settled upon the ground before there was the sound of a vortex opening and Lane flew out, smacking directly into Zane.

“Oh, Zane! I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to calculate my trajectory and avert myself properly after exiting the temporal vortex.” Lane said, standing up and helping up Zane.

“But you had 5.3 seconds.” Zane said, confused.

“I know, it’s quite disappointing; normally I should only require 2.8 seconds.” Lane sighed. “But it’s not important. Why are you all staring at me?”

“Lane? Are... are you okay?” Alexia asked slowly.

“Of course. I’m perfectly normal.” Lane replied cheerfully.

There was a moment of shock before Zane formulated a response. “I apologize in advance for my rudeness... but I am going to need to examine you in the medical room.”

“That’s perfectly fine, Zane.” Lane assured him. Nodding, Zane grabbed Lane’s hand for his own proof of her existence and led Lane to the medic room.

“Why are you worried?” Lloyd asked.

“Lane just described herself as normal. That in itself is worrying.” Moppet explained.


	31. Healing and Homesickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane appears to be perfectly fine, much to the surprise of all, while Moppet begins to truly miss home.

Zane was carefully attaching electrodes to Lane’s arm when he heard a sigh behind him. “Zane, that’s enough.” Alexia remarked.

“But I’ve only gone through 43.6% of tests!” Zane insisted.

“I don’t care. Lane’s exhausted and needs to rest after this whole thing.”

“Why would you say that?”

“She’s asleep.”

True to Alexia’s words, Lane was peacefully sleeping on the medical table. “...That would explain the shift in readings I noticed two hours ago.”

“Just help me get her to bed, she’s been through a lot.”

The next day...

Lane awoke to Alexia’s gentle nudging. “Normally I wouldn’t wake you... but Cole’s trying to make breakfast.”

“On my way...” Lane rubbed her eyes, getting down from her bunk and opening the door, only to find Zane outside. “Do you need something?”

“I have not finished the tests regarding your health. I apologize, but,”

“Zane, I promise, I’m perfectly normal.”

“But merely to use such a word to describe yourself is abnormal!” Zane insisted.

Lane sighed. “Zane, I understand you are very distraught. However, I assure you I am perfectly fine. I survived for a surprising length of time in the temporal vortex without modern medicine, so I highly doubt it would make much difference now.”

“Wait...” Alexia interjected. “You didn’t get stuck in a past period?”

“No, of course not.” Lane assured her.

“Then where the hell were you?”

“In the middle.”

“Of what?”

“The vortex.”

“Forgive me for interrupting, but how long were you unable to leave the vortex?” Zane inquired.

“I dunno, two or three...” Lane murmured.

“Days? Weeks? Months? Years?” Zane insisted.

Lane just continually shook her head until Alexia asked, “Centuries?”

“Around that, I lost track after my 157th birthday...” Lane answered.

Zane, dumbstruck, sparked. “This... does not... compute...” He whispered. Lane just shrugged and used the opportunity to leave the room to make breakfast; she couldn’t trust Cole to cook, even with the talking to she’d given him.

Alexia quickly followed Lane, concerned.“Lane... was that just a cruel joke or were you actually in there for like, 200 years?”

“When have I made cruel jokes?” Lane asked.

“...Good point.” Alexia attempted to adjust to the idea that her best friend was now over 13 times her age when Moppet walked into the kitchen.

“Did you kick Cole out?” Moppet asked hopefully. “He was trying to put curry spice in pancakes...”

Sighing, Lane grabbed a trash bag. “Put all the spices in here, we’ll lock them in a closet when he tries to make anything.”

“Okay!” Moppet cheerfully began putting all the small bottles in the bag before frowning. “Oh I forgot, I borrowed your skull-and-crossbones poison bottle awhile ago. It was the perfect size for a space in the cabinet.”

Lane blinked, “So that’s where that went. Moppet, you probably don’t want to leave dangerously inedible chemicals in a food preparation area, especially with Cole around.”

“How did he not use it? He puts  _ anything _ in food.” Alexia shuddered, remembering when Cole had combined white chocolate with thyme and cauliflower.

“I put a note on there, but since Lane took over the kitchen afterward, maybe he just never had the chance.” Moppet shrugged. “Anyway... Sensei Wu said we’ve got to get to training after breakfast. Zane wanted to know if you were feeling up to it, Lane.”

“I’ll be outside, he really needs to stop worrying.”

Later...

“Why are we following a Serpentine?” Moppet asked.

Lloyd shrugged. “Nya said we need to figure out what the Serpentine are doing, and nothing is going on in Oroborus.”

“But that doesn’t answer why we’re the ones following a lone Serpentine in the desert.” Moppet reminded.

“Well, Zane said Lane needs a less stressful assignment so they got to watch Oroborus. Jay and Nya are looking into Ninjago City, and Cole’s looking into the Serpentine tombs. Kai and Alexia are searching the sewers, do you want to go down there?”

“...No.” The pair continued in their tailing of the Hypnobrai, which was walking towards a series of large caverns. “What  _ are _ those caves?”

“They were used by bandits before my grandfather managed to defeat them. Why would a snake go in there?” Lloyd wondered.

“Maybe there’s treasure in there?” Moppet whispered, eyes shining.

“No, the only thing in there would be some skeletons from the bandits,” Lloyd slipped.

“Eeeeeeew!” Moppet crinkled her nose.

“Sorry.” Lloyd grabbed Moppet’s hand and the two entered the caverns, only to find themselves in complete darkness. “St-stay close...”

“I’ve got this.” Concentrating, the hand not being closely held by Lloyd began to glow with a gentle hue. “There. I’ve been working on controlling it so it’s small.”

“G-great.” Lloyd stopped breathing heavily, only to yell, “Aggghhh!”

Moppet followed Lloyd’s eyesight, only to shrug. “That’s what a real skeleton looks like? BBC has more freaky skeletons. These are just... meh.” Moppet poked one of the skulls with her one of her claws, causing it to fall off its’ neck. Lloyd gripped Moppet’s arm before coughing.

“Er, sorry.” Lloyd collected himself. “Well, the rest of the caverns should be empty...”

“C’mon, we’re losing the Serpentine!” Moppet tugged at Lloyd’s hand, and the two carefully followed the Serpentine while keeping far enough away from it to ensure it couldn’t see the glow of Moppet’s hand.

“Why’d your grandpa leave this place alone? Couldn’t the bandits just hide out here?” Moppet asked.

“R-remember those skeletons?” Lloyd shivered. “It’s near impossible to navigate these tunnels. The only reason I know the caves is because Pythor and I used it for a couple days when I first met him.”

“Then where’s this Serpentine headed?”

“I dunno. I think he’d headed to the deepest par- get down!” Lloyd forced Moppet to the floor, covering her glowing hand.

“What was that for?” Moppet’s face at hit the ground hard, and her nose now hurt severely.

“The Hypnobrai was looking back. We can’t be seen.”

“Got it...” Moppet rubbed her nose, still not particularly thrilled with Lloyd’s choice of action.

Two hours later...

“How much longer do we have to go?” Moppet groaned. She’d forgotten to restock her stash of snacks, and it was past lunch.

“Beats me. This guy keeps on,” Lloyd stepped in a pile of liquid, causing him to lose his balance and only Moppet’s quick tug on his arm kept him upright. “What  _ is _ this stuff?”

Moppet lowered her hand to the small pool, frowning. “I think it’s fresh blood...”

“Ew! I thought no one had gone in here in years!” Lloyd whined.

“Um, I think people have been down here recently...” Moppet whimpered.

“Why would you say that?” Moppet turned Lloyd’s head and raised her hand to reveal several dead bodies leaned against the wall.

Moppet shook, nearly sinking to the ground. Lloyd grabbed her waist before it happened, letting her hold him tightly. “This... this is wrong. What in the world in going on?”

“I...” Moppet sniffed. “I wanna leave... I wanna go home!”

“Shh, it’ll be okay!” Lloyd assured her, hugging Moppet tightly. She ended up crying for about a minute before wiping her cheeks with her sleeve. “It’s just a little farther to the deepest part of the caverns. We’ll be fine.”

“O-okay.” It took several tries, but eventually Moppet calmed down enough to produce light from her hand again. Lloyd made sure to keep close, for both of their sakes’. Finally, they caught up with the Hypnobrai, which stood before a large mirror. To their surprise, and intense fear, the Serpentine began to pulse dark light, transforming into a warrior with red skin and black armor.

The warrior began to speak in an unknown tongue to the mirror. Due to the darkness, Moppet and Lloyd could only listen to the strange language, unable to see who-or what- the warrior was speaking to.

“We’ve got to get out of here before he notices us.” Lloyd whispered hurriedly. Moppet just allowed him to lead her, blindly following him and not speaking until they got outside.

At the Bounty...

Lane was resting in the girls’ room, waiting for the bathroom. Alexia, having landed in the sewer water more than once, had more than deserved dibs on the shower for as long as necessary. As Zane had pleaded with Lane to rest, she complied, if only to keep him from worrying about her.

Moppet entered the room, cheeks dirty except for a line down each cheek. Without a word Lane got off her bunk, pulling her younger sister into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay, Miss Mops A Lot.”

“I wanna go home!” Moppet sobbed. “I wanna see Mummy and Daddy!”

Lane pursed her lips. Being alone for several years made it harder to want what you couldn’t have, but it wouldn’t have done any good for Moppet. “I know, Miss Mops A Lot. Believe me, I know.”

“Take us home!” Moppet began to wail. “Take us back home!”

“Miss Mops A Lot,”

“Take us back home to Mummy and Daddy!” Moppet cried. Her older sister  _ always _ made things better for her; Moppet thought Lane could do anything.

But right now, Lane was as helpless as Moppet. “I’m sorry, Miss Mops A Lot.” Lane whispered. “We can’t go home.”


	32. Anger and Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shadow continues to plot as Moppet and Lloyd find themselves connecting over less than happy life events...

The shadow was displeased. No, he was  _ incensed _ . After his previous destruction of the lone soldier who had accompanied the shadow, the shadow had been forced to communicate with one of the few remaining soldiers active in the other land.

But the news the soldier had brought was not good. The shadow had been correct; the lines of Blood, Light, and Water, somehow, had been restored. Though not yet masters, each of the new element wielders were continuing to grow in power.

The shadow cursed. Blood had always been an easy line to manipulate, but then one of them had seen the history of the line. She had refused her power, and in effect, broke the continuous cycle of corruption. Water was a tricky line; some of its members succumbed to darkness, but most remained on the side of good. Light had proven impossible to corrupt, despite several attempts made by the shadow.

It would only be a matter of time before the shadow would be forced to face them. The shadow cursed once more before beginning to plot. He had to weaken them... but how?

Back on the Bounty...

“W-what do you mean w-we can’t g-go home?” Moppet whispered, ceasing her crying due to shock.

Lane sighed. “Miss Mops A Lot... there’s no way home. The technology necessary is something that the Doctor himself didn’t have. We’d need to be able to pinpoint our dimension, and even if we managed that much, travel would be highly unstable. We’d be more likely to die on the way there,”

“NO!” Moppet resumed her sobbing. “You  _ always _ find a way! You always make things better!”

“Moppet Julia Smith!” Lane’s tone shifted from gentle to firm. “I’ve already said what I know, and it’s not going to change because you bawl your eyes out.”

Her younger sister just stared at Lane for a few more moments before crying out, for all on the Bounty to hear, “YOU ARE NOT LANE! LANE COULD FIX THIS! I... I HATE YOU!” Moppet ran out of the room blindly, sobbing and sniffling loudly, leaving a depressed Lane in the room.

Alexia chose this moment to re-enter the girls’ room from the shower. “It’s hard, sometimes, to remember that’s Moppet’s still a kid on the inside.” She whispered softly. Alexia could clearly hear Moppet from the bathroom, and had decided to let Lane comfort Moppet without any kind of interruption.

Sitting on her bunk, Lane held her forehead. “Of all the things I learned in that vortex... none of them are helping now.” Alexia sat next to her.

“I think Moppet needs to learn to deal with problems herself.” Alexia said quietly. “We all have to in the end.”

In the ship’s hold...

Moppet sniffed. She had simply made a mad dash for somewhere, anywhere that no one would find her. So when she’d found herself in a small closet in the ship’s hold, Moppet had crawled inside, tucking herself into a ball.

The person in the girls’ room was  _ not _ Lane. Moppet didn’t know where Lane was- maybe still stuck in the past, or in the time vortex, or something, but the real Lane wouldn’t have ever said something like that. Lane was like a superhero, always keeping Moppet safe and making sure everything would turn out alright. The real Lane would have promised Moppet they’d get home, no matter what.

The door to her tiny closet opened, revealing Lloyd. “Moppet... you need to come out.”

“NO!” Moppet slammed the door close, causing her teacher to sigh.

“If you don’t come out, I’ll tell Sensei Wu and he’ll make you come out.”

“GO AHEAD!”

In Sensei Wu’s meditation room...

“Can’t you get her to talk? She clearly needs help!” Lloyd said, exasperated.

“Lloyd, I cannot force her to speak. She must recognize that she needs assistance.” Sensei Wu told him calmly.

“If you can’t...” Lloyd smirked.

Back at Moppet’s closet...

Moppet was crying when she heard footsteps near the closet door. Wiping her eyes, Moppet expected someone to open the door. However, after about two minutes, when no one opened the door, Moppet cautiously did it herself.

On the floor was Mr. Snuffles. Without a second thought Moppet jumped out of the closet, grabbing Mr. Snuffles and cuddling him...

...and then found herself dragged across the floor, up the stairs, through hallways, and finally ending in Sensei Wu's meditation room. Lloyd finished reeling Moppet in, and put down the fishing pole. "See Uncle? It worked." Lloyd remarked.

Sensei Wu took one look at his nephew and sighed, "There are points when I have regrets of you being my nephew..."

In her utter shock at the situation, Moppet had dropped Mr. Snuffles, who was promptly picked up by Lloyd. “Moppet, you need to talk out your problems.”

Regaining her senses, Moppet violently shook her head. “NO! And give back Mr. Snuffles!”

“Not until you start talking!” Lloyd insisted. Moppet lunged, trying to grab her beloved stuffed pig, but since Lloyd was taller than her, she couldn’t reach Mr. Snuffles.

Sensei Wu watched the two bickering teenagers for about a minute before sighing and exiting the room, closing the door behind him. He turned to leave before stopping, turning around and locking the door; he wanted a few minutes of peace, and suspected Lloyd would simply attempt to drag Moppet to him if not impeded.

Back inside the room...

“GIVE BACK MR. SNUFFLES!” Moppet demanded, trying to jump to grab her toy.

“Not until you admit you need help!” Lloyd shot back.

The two continued yelling at each other until Moppet tackled Lloyd, snatching Mr. Snuffles back. “I’m leaving!” Moppet turned to the door, only to groan. “You idiot, you locked the door!”

“No I didn’t!” Lloyd argued. He too tried the door, but it was locked. “Dammit, Sensei’s gone, he must have locked us in!”

“Well then use the key.” Moppet huffed.

“I don’t have it, this is Sensei Wu’s room, he’s got the only key.”

“Then... we’re stuck here.” Moppet moaned. “This is your fault!”

“No, it’s yours! You refused to get help you needed!” Lloyd snorted.

“I don’t need anyone’s help! Lane does! It’s her job to fix this!”

“To fix what?”

“EVERYTHING! We should be home with Mummy and Daddy! We should be in school and I should be getting help from her on homework! Alexia should be down the road with a cute dog I can visit and a Wii U to play with! Everything should be perfect, and Lane won’t fix it!”

Lloyd looked at Moppet, stunned, before laughing. “You think this is bad? Oh, I’ve gone through way worse!”

“Like what?!”

“How about the fact that my mother  _ abandoned _ me as a kid? My dad too, I only met him a few months ago for about a week, and a few days ago he tried to kill me!”

“Since when did he try to kill you?”

“Uh, when he reset time so I would DISAPPEAR? Did you forget the whole thirtieth chapter?”

“I was in it, of course I remember it! But at least you don’t remember them! I remember my parents and have to miss them every day!”

Lloyd and Moppet stared down at each other before Lloyd, heavily pissed off, slapped Moppet across the face.

“OW!” Moppet rubbed her cheek, stunned. “You,”

“SHUT UP!” Lloyd screamed. “At least your parents love you! My mother hated and abandoned me, and my father hates me too!” He stormed to the other side of the room, sitting down.

Moppet stared at Lloyd for a few moments, shocked, before biting her lip and sitting down next to him. “I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.” Lloyd snapped.

“I really am,”

“Just shut your face.” Lloyd snarled, turning away.

Moppet paused before saying, “Didn’t your father come back to save you from the Serpentine at one point?”

“Yeah, so?”

“If he hated you, why would he do that?”

There were a few tense moments of silence before Lloyd sighed and turned back to face Moppet. “I guess he wouldn’t... But when he went back in time, I started disappearing. He was trying to kill me.”

“It seemed more like he wanted to keep you guys from meeting. Maybe you disappeared, but a version of you not being the green ninja took your place.” Moppet offered.

Lloyd blinked, “You’d think I’d remember that.”

“You didn’t remember disappearing, maybe you forgot that too.”

“...Point taken.” There was silence for about a minute before Lloyd spoke. “Why did you say Lane... ‘fixes everything’?”

Moppet sighed. “I dunno... I guess ever since I was little I never really had to deal with anything major. When I was stumped in school, Lane would help me through it. If I had a problem Lane would just solve it. I guess I got so used to it that I figured Lane could do anything...”

Lloyd chuckled. “When I was in boarding school, I kept on wishing for an older brother. It was probably because I was the most bullied kid there, but I thought if I had a sibling, then no one would bother me.”

“You’re the Green Ninja! How were you bullied?”

“...Back then I couldn’t punch straight. Hell, when I first met the other ninja, they hung me by my underwear on a pole.”

Moppet winched. “Wedgies hurt... But why would they do that?”

“I was kind trying to terrorize a village...”

“By yourself?”

“Yeah. It failed spectacularly and it took over two hours for me to get off the pole.”

“Dang... I guess you can’t always rely on others...”

“Yeah.”

There was silence for a few minutes before Moppet frowned. “Did you ever get them back for the whole ‘wedgie by pole’ thing?”

“Not really... My uncle told me I shouldn’t prank people except for the time he asked me to prank the guys. Why?” Lloyd asked, only to find Moppet smirking.

Later...

Having just gone through a long day of tracking and finishing up with some quick training, the male ninja (excluding Lloyd) raced to their room, ready to hit the sack...

...until Kai frowned, looking through his bunk’s drawers. “Where’s my boxers? Who was on laundry this week?”

“I was, maybe they’re in the laundry room.” Jay suggested. “Wait, mine aren’t here either...”

Kai went to the laundry room, only to find Alexia doing her own load. “I’m almost done, just let me set the machine.”

“I’m good. Did you see a stack of boxers in here by any chance?”

“No...” Alexia left, only to return 30 seconds later, face red. “I think I found your underwear...”

“What’d you mean?”

Blushing, Alexia grabbed Kai’s arm and led him outside to the deck, pointing to the mast. Flying proudly like flags were assorted underwear; Lane was currently assisting Zane in getting them down. “Please tell me the rubber ducky ones aren’t yours.” Alexia muttered.

“Actually, I believe that pair belongs to me.” Zane noted.

“Why do you have rubber ducky underwear?”

“They were of good quality and underpriced. Curiously, no one else seemed to pick them up.” Zane remarked.

Lane nodded, “Makes sense,” while her best friend just sighed.


	33. Enemies Out of Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Moppet back to normal, Lane shows her conspiracy theorist side for the first time and the ninja discuss what hers and Lloyd's discovery means for Ninjago...

After over an hour, the perpetrators of the underwear hanging were located in the ship’s hold. It turned out the two had fled to the very same closet Moppet had been sulking in earlier.

“Moppet, you need to come out of the closet.” Lane insisted.

“I told you already, I’m not homosexual!” Moppet replied while Alexia snorted.

“This is  _ not _ South Park!” The older girl groaned.

Moppet poked her head out of the closet, confused. “What?”

Seizing the opportunity, Alexia dragged Moppet out of the closet while Lane managed to get Lloyd out as well. “Don’t worry about it, you’re way too young to even think about watching it.”

The next day...

“Did anyone have a successful reconnaissance mission?” Nya asked. Everyone was gathered in the control room. “Ninjago City was devoid of any Serpentine sightings.”

Zane shook his head. “Oroborus was full of Serpentine, but there was no suspicious activity.”

“Unless you count the sudden influx of ice cream shops in the city.” Lane said darkly.

Everyone slowly turned to face Lane. “Why would the number of ice cream shops be suspicious?” Jay asked.

“It’s a major change in local industry.” Lane remarked seriously. “It could be due to any number of factors...

“Like the fact that it’s uber-hot out there and they might want something cold to eat?” Alexia reminded.

“...Oh. Fine, you were right Zane, they weren’t building a freeze ray.” Lane muttered.

“Ok... Did anyone else see something suspicious  _ besides _ that?” Nya continued.

“The tombs were empty. All I saw was old snake skin and dust.” Cole answered.

“Unlike humans, Serpentine have standards. All that was in the sewers was waste water.” Alexia said.

“I’m guessing you guys didn’t find anything.” Jay said to Lloyd and Moppet.

“Actually, we saw a stone soldier guy who was disguised as a Serpentine talking to someone in a creepy tunnel full of dead bodies,” volunteered Lloyd.

“They were  _ fresh _ ,” shuddered Moppet.

“And you didn't mention this before because?” Cole asked. 

“Angst,” said Moppet firmly, “It’s a well-established family tradition.”

Lane shrugged, “It’s true.”

“What did they say?” inquired Zane.

“We couldn’t tell. He was speaking some weird dark language.” Lloyd explained.

“Then let’s check it out. This could be a big lead.” Kai stated.

“Detective, much?” Alexia teased.

“Shut up.”

Later…

“So… where exactly are the bodies?” Cole asked. There were two groups; Lloyd, Moppet, Lane, and Cole in one, and Jay, Nya, Alexia, and Kai in the other. Moppet provided light for her group via her powers while the other group just carried a lantern.

“We should be coming up on them any moment now… You may want to plug your nose.” Moppet advised.

The group continued until Cole sighed. “There’s nothing here. You sure you guys didn’t just get scared and imagine it?”

“Of course not! We didn’t imagine the skeletons at the beginning of the tunnel.” Moppet protested.

“Yeah, but who above the age of five would get scared by that?” Cole snorted. Lloyd hung his head miserably.

“Somebody’s hiding something down here…” Lane groaned, rubbing her nose. “The smell down here is awful…”

“What smell?” Lloyd asked, confused.

“How can you not smell it?” Lane gasped. “It’s bleach, and it’s EVERYWHERE.”

“I mean, there’s a little smell. How do you know it’s bleach?” Cole questioned.

“What do you think the stuff we clean the deck with is?” Lane retorted.

“...The dish soap?” Lloyd said hopefully.

Lane sighed, “That’s a horrible waste of resources. Anyway, it’s strongest in that corner, which must be where the majority of the bodies were dumped.”

“It can’t be  _ that _ bad.” Lloyd walked to the indicated area and took a deep breath…

...before promptly falling flat on his face and passing out.

Back at the Bounty (much later)...

“HOW DO WE USE THAT STUFF TO CLEAN? IT’S DISGUSTING!” Lloyd shouted. The whiff of bleach had caused him a major headache, making him irritable.

Lane shrugged, “It’s highly corrosive. The reason it smells so bad is because it’s actually killing your nose cells.”

“You mean I’m going to lose my sense of smell?” Lloyd asked, mortified.

“No, it means you get a headache and your noses hurts.” Moppet explained.

“Now what? Who would murder a huge number of people, dump them in caves, then clean up after themselves?” Nya remarked. Lane raised her hand. “Yes?”

“I think a polite psychopath.” She answered.

“Polite psychopath?”

“Psychopath because they killed all those people, and polite because instead of murdering Lloyd and Moppet to keep them quiet, they cleaned up all the evidence.”

“...Okay. Any other ideas?”

“As it is unlikely the creature would return to the tunnels due to its’ being spotted, we should focus our efforts on finding a connection to the creature and the Serpentine. There may be others who are in disguise.” Zane noted.

“But what do they have to gain by pretending to be Serpentine? The Serpentine haven’t gotten any ground in their fight against us.” Jay reminded.

“Actually, it would be a good disguise, considering no one sees the Serpentine as a threat. Heck, they’re losing the war they started, showing tactical inferiority.” Lane replied. “That or they just disguised themselves as the first thing they saw.”

“...So what do we do about this?” asked Jay.

Nya sighed. “Looks like we’ll just have to check every Serpentine we defeat one at a time...”

The group shared a collective groan; this was going to take  _ years _ .


	34. Training of All Forms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lane finds herself with extra training, Alexia continues her own regimen, and Moppet begins to teach her own subject.

Jay stumbled out of bed, rubbing his eyes. He’d planned to help with research into... whatever Moppet and Lloyd had seen, so Jay figured before training was the best time to start.

Nya, as it turned out, was already awake and working. She had, in fact, pulled an all-nighter studying the subject, and thus was dozing in the control room. As such, when Jay found her, he handed her a cup of coffee. “I’m guessing asking you to catch some sleep would be useless?”

“Of course,” Nya chuckled softly as she drank the heavenly caffeinated drink. “I’ve managed to look into old myths on other races; apparently there used to be several anthropomorphic races other than the Serpentine. They died out a lot earlier, though.”

“Anything on warriors made of stone?”

“Nothing. Not even in the stories of the first Spinjitzu master,” Nya sighed. “Good news is, I talked to Sensei Wu, he said we deserved a few days to ourselves. Hopefully I can figure this out before we have to go back to training.”

Later...

Lane walked outside, confused. Moppet had sent her out onto the deck for ‘special training,’ with no explanation, so for all Lane knew Moppet was trying to surprise attack her with muffins  _ again  _ (the score was now 2195 to 47 in Lane’s favor (she had been very industrious in the intervening months)).

Instead, to Lane’s surprise, Lloyd was the person waiting for her, and there were no baked goods in sight. “Since we’ve got the day off from Sensei Wu’s training, I figured you needed to get caught up with Alexia and Moppet.”

“Oh. Alright.” Lane had no idea what she’d fallen behind on, but she figured remedial lessons couldn’t possibly hurt her performance level.

Elsewhere...

“No, no, no! How many times have I told you, use  _ a pinch _ of black pepper! Not a BRICK,” Moppet groaned.

“But won’t using more pepper make it better? You said pepper improves the flavor of the food,” Cole insisted.

Moppet smacked her forehead. “But if you add a brick of pepper, you’re throwing flavor out the window and instead burning the mouth of the person who eats it.”

“Perhaps we should move past spices,” Zane offered, trying to avert another fight. Moppet was currently trying to give Cole cooking lessons, and Zane was there as he was not only fireproof, but also the only one who could taste Cole’s food without vomiting, fainting, gagging, or just dropping down dead.

“Alright. Cole, take the chicken and just use one lemon and rosemary for the rub,” Moppet said. “Pick off leaves of rosemary and chop it up before you put it on the meat. And spread it evenly, the last time you did it half the chicken was too dry and unflavored and the other half was so sour I could barely eat one bite.”

Some time later...

Kai walked into the control room, where his sister and Jay were still hard at work. “Lunch break, it’s Zane’s leftover pot roast.”

“Is Moppet still trying to teach Cole how to cook properly, or has she given up?” Jay asked, putting down his tools.

“Still at it. I think he’s managed to learn to not make weird combinations now...”

“Wait, if Moppet’s in the kitchen and Lane’s outside, where’s Alexia? Normally she’s with one of them on her days off.” Nya remarked.

“She’s in the training room. Something about not wanting to fall behind on her hand-to-hand combat.”  Kai answered.

“Why not take her out? She’s probably stressed out.” Jay suggested.

“Wait, when was the last time the two of you went out on a date? As in, actually went out, just the two of you.” Nya questioned.

“Uh... Actually, I think we haven’t gone out on a date.” Kai replied, somewhat confused.

“You’re kidding me, right? I mean Jay took me out before we were even really a couple, are you telling me the two of you became a couple without a single date?” Nya asked. “Alright, mister, you two are going out tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Kai started, but Nya had already left the room. “Did I screw up that badly?”

Jay shrugged. “Honestly, I agree that it’s weird, but have you got any idea what to do?”

In the training room...

Alexia slammed her right fist into the punching dummy, smashing it into the ground where it stayed, not daring to come back up. Panting, she grabbed a towel and wiped off the majority of the sweat on her limbs, which was very annoyingly starting to sting at some open cuts on her arms.

The training door opened, revealing a tired but determined Nya. “Something up? I’m almost finished,” Alexia said, putting down the towel.

“I’m asking out of concern. Have you and Kai never formally gone out on a date?” Nya asked.

“No. We’ve- um... actually, we haven’t,” Alexia mumbled. “I mean, the whole ‘couple’ thing was kinda sudden, and between training and Serpentine attacks, we’ve all been pretty busy.”

“Well, we have the day off tomorrow. You two should just go out and relax,” Nya insisted. “I normally try to not get into other people’s business... But other than between training and sleep, have you and Kai not spent quality time together?”

Alexia sighed. “I guess when you put it that way... You’ve got a point. I’ll talk with Kai after dinner, but right now...” She sniffed her armpit in the most unladylike way possible before she grimaced. “I  _ really _ need a shower. I smell like a cross between an Orluga and a Brog.”

Much later...

Lane was at the end of her rope. She had absolutely no idea why Lloyd was so tired and stressed, and she still didn’t know what these remedial lessons were for. She’d gone through a seemingly endless array of balance, speed and precision exercises, but with each passing task, Lloyd only seemed to grow more exasperated.

“Fine. I give up. What am I doing wrong?” Lane demanded, flopping down onto the deck.

“Look, if you’re going to be on par with Alexia and Moppet, you  _ need _ to learn spinjitzu! I don’t understand why you can’t do it- your ability level can’t be what’s holding you back, you’re strong and fast enough, you fall over less than Moppet, what’s stopping you from doing it?”

“...Would it help if I said I already can?”

“No way, that’s,” Lloyd was cut off by Lane promptly performing spinjitzu, slamming into him in a tornado of red mist, simultaneously throwing him across the deck and covering everything in a ten foot radius in a thin layer of blood. 

“I probably need some practice, it’s still a bit messy,” Lane said, abashed.

Lloyd wiped off his face, frowning. “Why don’t you do this normally in sparing?”

“...It reminds me of a worse time,” Lane shivered, ending the discussion.

That evening...

Lane and Alexia, the latter having newly showered, were in the girls’ room, discussing what was to become Alexia’s first ever date.

“So... Jeans or sweats?” Alexia asked, rummaging through her drawers.

“Don’t you have anything more formal?” Lane sighed.

“Nope. Besides, this is a date, not a state dinner or theater visit,” Alexia paused. “At least, I hope it's’ not.”

“How about wearing a skirt?” Alexia snorted. “Blouse?” Snort. “Khakis?” Smaller snort. “...Nice sweater?”

Snort accompanied by, “It’s mid-summer, are you serious?”

Before Lane could retort about Alexia not even trying to be nicely-dressed for such a momentous occasion, Moppet stomped in. “What happened, Miss-Mops-A-Lot?”

“I GIVE UP.” Moppet huffed. “I tried everything. EVERYTHING. Charts, diagrams, logic, even experience! Cole is unteachable in the art of cooking.”

“Wait. You tried every single logical way to improve Cole’s cooking?” Alexia asked.

“Yes. He proved too much for logic,” Moppet sighed.

“...Step aside. I’m about to flex my secondary language muscles,” Alexia replied, putting away the clothing she’d pulled about and exiting the room.

Two hours later...

Alexia returned with a small platter containing small amounts of food. “Alright, here’s the result of two hours of training. Eat up, I made sure Zane scanned it and ensure it wasn’t poisonous or life-threatening.”

“There is no way I’m eating that abomination,” Moppet grunted. Lane carefully inspected the food before placing a single piece in her mouth. She chewed for about a minute before finally swallowing.

“Mediocre. The flavor is there, but it’s underseasoned,” Lane concluded, taking another bite before going back to her bunk.

“WHAT?!” Moppet jumped off her bunk and plopped one of the pieces into her mouth. “It’s... actually edible! And not in a horrifying sense! H- _ how _ ?!”

“Let us just say that while English is my first language, I was successful in my attempt to learn a foreign language other than French,” Alexia replied sweetly.

Though Moppet appeared awestruck, Lane sighed. “She means she’s well-versed in the language of bullshit lying.”

“Wait, how did lying improve his cooking?” Moppet demanded.

“Easy. Every time he tried to make a disgusting choice, I told him it would kill someone with a completely straight face. It helps that we’ve thrown up after just a couple bites of his old food,” Alexia explained. “So I taught him to only use a small amount of spice, as too much would be ‘poisonous’ and if spread out, the effects are less potent.”

“...I bow down to your greatness,” Moppet whispered, doing so even as Lane face-palmed.


	35. There's A First Time For Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexia and Kai go on their first date, and Lane and Zane go on their first "follow-people-on-a-date" date.

There were not many times Lane disagreed with Alexia. Normally, while they might argue and debate things like time travel, suspension of disbelief, and politics, the two respected each other enough to not disagree.

Today, however, was a time when the two were vehemently arguing with no wish to lose to the other person.

“Dangit, Alexia, this is a huge event! You can slide with jeans, they’re semi-formal, but we’re doing your hair whether you like it or not!” Lane shouted, holding a curling iron in her hand.

“OVER MY DEAD BODY,” Alexia retorted, hiding in the bathroom.

“I can pick this lock any time I want, just make this easier on yourself!”

“Go ahead and try, you’ll get a face full of lotion!”

Lane groaned. “Moppet, get the chair ready, I’m about to go in.”

“Yes Lane.” Though Moppet didn’t get the point in forcing Alexia into this, Moppet had to admit it was amusing to see her older sister and her older sister’s best friend duke it out over what was, in Moppet’s opinion, a trivial issue.

Already the shouting had gotten the attention from the others on the ship (mainly Zane and Nya, as Cole and Lloyd were training, and Kai was getting last-minute advice from Jay), but a glare from Lane had told them all they needed to know. Now, Lane was prepared to end the fight in the only way she knew how; bribery.

“What do I have to do to get you out without sedatives?” Lane questioned, though she had plenty ready.

There was a pause before Alexia responded. “I get to force you to do something. And you have to do it without a resistance.”

“Define ‘anything’,” Lane demanded.

“Anything with the exception of serious injury. Humiliation, favors, etc. are fair game.”

“Fine, just get out here.”

Alexia grumbled but unlocked the door, looking like a prisoner about to go off to execution with Lane being the one holding the axe. “If you make me look like a frilly idiot, I will peel your skin with a vegetable peeler...”

Later...

“OW! Stop pulling!” Alexia grunted.

“I’m not the reason your hair is so tangled! Putting in a ponytail everyday is not healthy!” Lane argued. “Moppet, hand me the hair spray.”

Moppet dutifully did so, giving Alexia a pat on the back and an aspirin just in case of headache. “I’m sure you’ll like it when we’re finished.”

Alexia just snorted in response. “More likely I’ll chase you two around the ship with my sword when this is over.”

Lane shrugged, “Probably, but you’ll have fabulous hair while doing it.”

“Just finish up so I can see the mess you got me into...” Alexia grumbled.

Lane sighed, but did as she was told, “Just a second... hold still... no, turn left, not right... and I’m done.”

Moppet handed Alexia a mirror, then promptly ducked for fear of reprisal. “...You live another day,” Alexia grunted, getting up and leaving the bathroom.

Lane and Moppet carefully waited until Alexia had left the bathroom before breaking out into their happy dances. “Six months of trial and error finally paid off!” Lane whispered excitedly.

An hour later...

Kai sighed, looking at the girls’ room door. Even with the bits of advice Jay’d given him, he still had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into. He was in jeans, his favorite red shirt, and a red jacket since while it was hot outside now, it would probably get colder in the evening.

Finally, figuring Alexia was likely just waiting inside, he knocked on the door. “Just a second...” Alexia called before shouting to someone else, “NO, I’m NOT wearing that!”

“But it  _ becomes  _ you!” Lane insisted.

“You already did one thing, back off!”

“But-”

“I WILL PUNT YOU OFF THE SHIP IF YOU KEEP DOING THIS.”

“...okay.”

Alexia opened the door before immediately slamming it behind her, keeping Lane in the room to prevent her best friend from trying to ‘improve’ Alexia’s appearance further. Kai smiled weakly; while he was normally used to Alexia losing her temper, he was incredibly nervous, and was sincerely hoping that he didn’t screw up tonight. “You look great.”

Alexia blushed before sighing. “Thanks, sorry for yelling, Lane’s been on my ass all day about not looking proper.”

“Why did she want you to look proper?”

“She has some crazy idea about how one  _ must _ look for certain events, so even though Lane has never been on a date, she is convinced I am not in ‘proper-first-date-attire’,” Alexia snorted.

Kai smirked before slipping his hand into hers. “C’mon, you hungry?”

“Starving.”

Twenty minutes later...

“Zane, for pete’s sake, keep up!” Lane whispered, peeking out from behind a street corner. Zane strode calmly past her in full view, causing Lane to groan. “I didn’t mean that way!”

“But you requested that I move forward, correct?” Zane asked, confused.

“Yes, but not like that! Are you actively  _ trying _ to be spotted?”

Zane sighed, “Why must we do this?”

Lane grumbled argumentatively, “All evidence to date indicates that this, following those you care about around on their first date, is both completely proper, and, in fact, expected.”

Though confused, Zane could find no fault in her logic as he had done the same act once before (it wasn’t like he and Kai and Cole had intended to follow Nya and Jay on their first date, it had just happened that the fang blade was there). “But what are we to do if something happens?”

“Um... it never said anything about that. We’re just supposed to... be there, I think.” Lane remarked before pulling Zane back by the collar. “So we stay out of sight. Capice?”

With Kai and Alexia...

Alexia frowned, looking behind her. “Something wrong?” Kai asked.

“Thought I saw something,” Alexia shrugged. Her stomach then growled, causing Kai to chuckle.

“Let’s get some food.” As they walked, Kai noticed something move out of the corner of his eye, and made a mental note to look around when they left the restaurant.

Aaaaaaand back with Lane...

After watching the pair from a booth of their own (watching people made Lane hungry, so she’d ordered a burger while she listened to Kai and Alexia’s conversation), Lane was happy to see that Kai and Alexia seemed to be doing well for a first date. She took note of when Alexia responded well to one of Kai’s jokes and when the pair seemed silent, though that was likely a side-effect of eating.

“Must we watch them for the entire duration of their date?” Zane asked quietly.

“All the study material that I’ve found has indicated that it is... unusual... to make it this far without being caught. I suppose we will have to keep following them until they do notice us.”

“...So I should be more obvious?”

“No, we’re supposed to be as incognito as we can manage.”

“This is a very strange activity.”

“Yes, it is,” Lane agreed emphatically.

Later...

“Crap!” Alexia swore as she lost her last continue. “Good grief, I know arcade games are made to steal your money, but sheesh!”

Kai smirked; he was busy with an old pac-man arcade cabinet while Alexia was trying, in vain, to beat the high score on the Donkey Kong cabinet. “You might want to try and dodge instead of going straight into a barrel.”

“Yeah, but I prefer to find the hammers,” Alexia paused, rummaging through her pockets for change when she turned around. “...”

“Something wrong?” Kai asked.

“...I’ll explain later,” Alexia replied, going back to her game.

With Lane and Zane...

Lane groaned. She knew how to complete a covert op. She could avoid direct line-of-sight, blend into groups, and follow at variable distances (staying too constant makes you suspicious), but Zane was  _ hopeless _ . 

“What are you doing?” Lane hissed, hauling Zane to the side of the arcade room, “At least  _ look _ like you want to be here, do you have no stealth training?”

“Our stealth tactics have always seemed to work before,” mused Zane, “Then again, Serpentine seem quite oblivious to their surroundings.”

Lane shook her head, “You all need remedial stealth lessons. I’m sure that kindergarten class over there could help you.”

Aaaaaaand later still...

“That was nice.” Alexia murmured. She was tired, but in a good way, and leaning on Kai’s shoulder.

“We’d better head back. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sensei Wu used a louder gong than usual since we’ve had a few days off.” Kai remarked.

“Hmm... you did notice how Zane was following us, right?”

Kai snorted with laughter. “I think most people did. He stuck out like sore thumb.”

“That means Lane was with him; she’s the only one who could convince him to do something like this.”

“I think I saw her once, dragging Zane off so he wasn’t as obvious.”

“So, what should we do? I can handle Lane, but honestly I don’t think Zane knew what they were doing.”

“I’ll talk to him, for now let’s get back.”

Back at the Bounty...

Lane sat on her bunk, exhausted. Why on earth did people follow their friends on dates? She wasn’t even caught or confronted; all she discovered was Zane was worse at stealthiness than a sugar-high three-year-old (though the brilliantly white uniform probably should have tipped her off). She heard someone in the hallway, and dove under her blankets, pretending to be asleep.

“Night.” Lane heard Alexia whisper. There was a sound which Lane decided was likely a good- night kiss before Alexia entered the room, smiling.

“Hey Lane. You know, next time you follow me on a date, could you lend me some quarters? I almost ran out while in the arcade,” Alexia stated, brushing out her hair.

Lane shot out of bed, shocked, “I thought I did everything right, how did you see me?”

“I didn’t. Both of us saw Zane, and Kai saw you drag him out of eyesight once. Lane, normally I get that you do weird stuff, but this... this was borderline stalking!”

Lane blinked, “But... Moppet  _ said _ this was expected social behaviour!”

“Then Moppet played a very cruel joke, because that is the opposite of typical social behavior.”

“Moppet wouldn’t do that!” Lane protested.

Alexia rolled her eyes, leaving the room and returning with a confused Moppet. “Do you want to explain  _ why _ your sister thought stalking me on a date was normal?”

“What!”

“You told me those nineties sitcoms were a good example of human social behavior. On every sitcom, someone attends  _ every _ first date.”

“Lane, that was a joke! I thought you knew those were extremely exaggerated!”

“...Really?” Lane said confusedly. “I’m sorry, I promise I won’t do anymore observations like that...”

There was a moment of tense silence before Alexia sighed. “Alright, next time, run it by Moppet before you decide to do it.”

Lane nodded, still unsure. She had been  _ sure _ that she had finally worked out an acceptable behaviour pattern.


	36. Unhappy Reunion (AKA Plot. Lots And Lots Of Plot)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja embark on a mission to the museum, and discover more than just enemies to defeat...

When the rest days were over, the ninja had learned one thing about the stone soldier -- it was  _ really _ good at not being in any record they could find. In fact, the only unusual event that week was a mysterious call from the museum.

“Sir, I understand you have a problem, but could you please give us some details?” Nya asked for the fourth time.

“I’m afraid it’s easier to show you than explain,” The director explained over the phone.

Nya sighed before ending the call. “Great. We can’t even tell if all of us are necessary.”

“So they expect us to go in completely blind?” Cole questioned.

“Yeah. They just kept saying we’d need to see it.”

“Aren’t there any details? If not Lane might be tempted to overpack again...” Moppet remarked.

“When you say overpack,” Zane began.

“She means that Lane could bring anything from a bathtub to a steam roller.” Alexia replied. “On one camping trip Moppet said Lane brought two different sets of plumbing tools.”

“So?”

“There was no running water at the campsite.”

“...So?”

“Zane, there was no plumbing of any kind in a two mile radius.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s just go and hope for the best,” Jay said.

At said museum...

“Oh, thank heavens you’re here!” The director sighed.

“We heard there was an emergency?” Sensei Wu questioned.

“Yes, come, come, quickly!” The director insisted. “This way!”

The director led the group to a marked off area, though Lane and Moppet continually lingered at the exhibits, fascinated by the history.

“We are  _ not _ here to be tourists.” Alexia groaned, dragging the two by the collar.

“But... but the history! Think of what we could learn from this!” Lane replied pleadingly.

“Lane, it’s a cartoon world. I think if we learn anymore, we’ll just get confused. The plot was never meant to be fully fleshed out.”

“...Point taken.”

Back with the group, the director began giving actual details. “The Stone Warrior exhibit opens tonight, and this couldn’t have come at a worse time!”

“ _ What _ couldn’t have come at a worse time?” Kai asked.

“Ninjago City appreciates your destroying the Great Devourer some time back, but it appears its’ toxic venom has seeped into the city’s sewer system, and has had the most unusual aftereffect.”

“Does this mean I was possibly swimming in that crap when Kai and I were in the sewers last week?” Alexia asked Zane, who nodded. Alexia sighed, “I’m taking a second shower when we get back...”

The director stopped in front of a door marked, ‘Gift Shop,’ before opening it. Inside were many small figurines which were screaming and had glowing eyes. “The toxic venom has somehow brought our product merchandise to life! It’s unruly! I-I didn’t know who else to call!”

Moppet gasped. “T-that’s what Lloyd and I saw in the cave!”

“You saw a one foot figure hopping around in that bloody cavern?” Cole asked.

“No, it was our height. But that’s kind of what it looks like.” Lloyd explained.

One of the figurines jumped up onto Zane’s shoulder, smacking him with its’ tiny sword. Zane crushed the figurine, causing it to fall over, lifeless.

“We’ve got this. I think we can handle a few toys.” Jay said confidently.

“Please, could you contain the fighting to the gift shop? The doors to the new exhibit will be open soon. Thank you!” The director quickly closed the gift shop doors, leaving the ninja in the room with the multiple figurines.

The immediate reaction from the figurines was to attack in droves. In Lane opinion, they were really quite unimaginative in their battle tactics; all they did was throw heavy objects at their opponents' heads.

“Alright, time to get down to business,” Lane said, pulling out a sledgehammer.

“Where did you get that?!” Cole asked.

“I wanted a blunt-force weapon,”

“...Got anything else?” Alexia asked, trying to destroy figurines but failing as her sword wasn’t the best for demolishing.

“No, you told me to not overpack this time.”

“Damn...” Alexia cursed, sheathing her sword and grabbing two commemorative baseball bats from one of the sales bins, giving one to Moppet. “Batter up!”

Alexia and Lane ran forward, demolishing the figurines. The others moved to help, but Moppet held up a hand for them to wait. “Stop. This is our fight.”

“What?” Jay questioned.

“I have trained since childhood for this. Do not refuse me this chance to prove myself.”

“You’ve trained for this  _ exact _ scenario?” Kai asked.

“I have intense whack-a-mole skills,” Moppet replied seriously before turning to the fight and loosing a war cry, “BONUS MALLET!”

For the next thirty seconds, the female ninja smashed, demolished, and generally just destroyed anything moving object... including a near smashing experience for Lloyd’s head when he stepped aside too suddenly.

“They’re enjoying this too much...” Cole remarked after seeing Alexia use one figurine as a baseball.

“It’s our inner barbarians coming out!” Lane said cheerfully. “We would loose the outer ones too, but that requires funny costuming, and I left those at home.”

Finally, the insanity of the destruction ended with Moppet declaring, “New high score!” before she put down her bat. “That was fun. Can we do that again?”

“They have all been destroyed,” Zane responded.

“...Aw...”

In fact, it turned out one lone figurine had escaped destruction; it opened the door, shouting squeaky profanities, and hopped away. Sensei Wu, being closest to the door, ran after it through the halls of the museum before crushing it with his foot.

Behind Sensei Wu, a door opened. revealing an older woman. Sensei Wu turned around at the sound, and gasped softly. “Misako!”

“Wu,” Misako replied, smiling. Sensei Wu began to slightly stammer as Misako continued, “It’s been a long time.”

“So, uh, you going to introduce us?” Jay said, clearing his throat. The ninja had left the gift shop looking for Sensei Wu, and Jay spoke for all of them in their curiosity.

Sensei Wu nodded, coughing slightly. “Yes. This is Misako, Lloyd’s mother.”

Everyone gasped as Lloyd froze, staring at Misako. “My-my mother?!”

Misako gave a gasp of surprise before walking towards Lloyd. “Lloyd? My little boy? You’re so much bigger than I remember,”

“Yeah, well it’s been a long time,” Lloyd interrupted, flinching away from Misako’s attempt to hold him.

“I didn’t want us to meet like this,” Misako explained. “I have a reason why I’ve been away,”

“Well I don’t want to hear it!” Lloyd retorted, storming off to another room.

“Lloyd, wait! Please!” Misako begged, but Lloyd just slammed the museum door in response.

“Let me get this straight. You’re Lloyd’s mom, who Lloyd hasn’t know his entire life,” Moppet questioned.

“Yes. I didn’t want to leave him at Darkly’s, but I didn’t have any other options,” Misako replied.

“Does this reason include, but is not limited to, any of the following; Lloyd’s safety, Lloyd's health and comfort or the destruction of one or more people?”

“Yes.”

Moppet nodded before adopting a grim look. “Alright, I’ll handle this. Nobody follow me, this is between me and Lloyd.” The young girl opened the museum door before closing it behind her, following Lloyd to his current position.

“...Should we go too?” Cole asked after a few moments.

“I think we should leave this to Moppet. She seems to have taken personal offense, and I don’t want to be in the crosshairs of that,” Lane argued.

In a room with a GIANT hole...

Lloyd sat at the edge of the bottomless pit, sulking. He had thought his entire life that his mother had died, or was running from something. To know that she was perfectly fine, working in some random museum without a care towards him was... was  _ infuriating _ ! And now he was supposed to be perfectly fine with his mother abandoning him?!

The door to the room opened, causing Lloyd to groan. “I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Well, I was going to give you some comfort food, but in that case,” Moppet began.

“Oh, sorry Moppet,” Lloyd sighed. “I thought Misako followed me.”

“You mean your mom,” Moppet corrected.

“No, I mean Misako. She’s not my mom; she hasn’t been my mom for years,”

Moppet sat next to Lloyd, handing him a piece of fudge. “Fudge always makes me feel better.”

Lloyd looked at the piece of candy before shrugging and taking a bite. “Thanks,”

There were a few seconds of peaceful silence until Moppet got up. “Lloyd, you should really talk to your mom.”

“No! She’s been absent my entire life. I have nothing to say to her.”

“Lloyd, just a week ago you yelled at me that you missed out on having parents! Now when you have the chance, you’re willing to throw that out the window?”

“I-I don’t want her to be my mom!” Lloyd shouted, rising. “She left me at Darkly’s! My father gave more thought to me; when I was in danger, he saved me!”

Moppet stared at Lloyd before delivering a hard slap to his face. The green ninja, unprepared, grunted in surprise. “Take your own advice! You said I should be thankful my parents love me; it’s clear your mom loves you and cares about you. The same goes for your dad. Now go and talk to her or for the love of pudding I will lock the two of you in a room with no food until you talk.”

“Yeah right!”

Two minutes later...

Moppet shoved Misako into the room before slamming the door and barricading it with several planks of wood. “Now start talking! You’re not coming out until you have an acceptable mother and son relationship! And don’t think that the others are going to save you, I locked them up in a different room!”

“No you didn’t!” Lloyd shouted back.

“You’re right, but we agree with Moppet; you need to work out your problems,” Alexia replied.

Moppet sat down by the door. “I’m standing guard, you guys... can do what you want.”

Lane grinned, “I’m going to be a tourist!” She left as Alexia said,

“Lane, LANE, stop- Aaaaaand she’s gone. Great. To hell with this, Moppet, you’re dealing with her when she comes back; I’m getting pizza,” Alexia grunted.

Back in the room with Lloyd...

“Lloyd,” Misako began.

“Be quiet,” Lloyd grunted. “There’s nothing you can say.”

“Well, I’m going to talk anyway. I didn’t want to leave you on the steps of Darkly’s; if I could have I would have taken you with me! I would have raised you myself.”

“But you didn’t! You never called, never sent a letter! You didn’t even come to any of the open houses!” Lloyd yelled. “I was the only kid without parents or grandparents or other relatives! I was completely alone!”

“Lloyd, stop!” By this point Misako, normally calm and composed, was in tears. “I never wanted to leave you there. Thousands of times I cried myself to sleep, wondering how you were. The school never bothered contacting me since I wasn’t dark like the other parents. All I knew was that you were safe in the school. Do you honestly believe I abandoned you? Then your father did the same when he left to fight your uncle instead of remaining with us.”

“That still doesn’t give you the right to just leave me behind without a word! You’re just as bad as Dad is!”

Misako just sighed. “Then what do you want from me, Lloyd? Do you just want to remain angry with me for the rest of your life? Do you want me to disappear and never see you again?”

“I,” Lloyd stopped. His blind rage was starting to diminish, and he didn’t really know how to answer his mother’s questions. “I... I want my life back. I want the years that stupid Tomorrow Tea stole. I... I wish I’d had a normal childhood,” He admitted quietly, hugging his knees.

Sitting next to her son, Misako enveloped Lloyd in a hug. “I will never stop wishing that I could have given you a normal life. And I know your father feels the same; you were his entire world when we were together. If your father had never been bitten, I know he would have been the best father. But fate never allowed us to be a family; all I can do is be thankful that now destiny has given me another chance at being a mother.”

The tender moment was somewhat ruined by the doors of the room opening. “There,  _ now _ you can come out,” Moppet remarked, satisfied.

By now everyone had returned to the door, including a slightly comatose Lane; she was currently muttering on and on about how something was, ‘completely illogical, ill-conceived, and frankly childish’. Zane was supporting her, and he was trying his best to calm her down. Alexia groaned, shooting Moppet a look which said, ‘I blame you’.

“So... what is this room?” Jay asked.

Misako rose walking towards the tapestries in the room. “The bottomless pit is where I found the Stone Warrior, which is being shown this evening as a part of Ninjago’s history.” Lane mumbled something about the physics of finding something in a bottomless hole before dissolving into her never ending confusion once more. “I came here after leaving Lloyd at the boarding school to do heavy research on Ninjago mythology and prophecies.”

“Why would you need to do that?” Cole questioned.

“Before Sensei Wu and my husband knew who would be the Green Ninja, I knew it would be Lloyd, and I knew he would eventually have to fight his father. By throwing myself into these studies, I hoped to prevent the final battle between good and evil; I wanted to save Lloyd and his father,” Misako replied. She pointed to the tapestries in front of her and began a familiar story.

“Long before time had a name, Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitzu Master,”

“Yeah, but everyone knows that,” Kai interrupted before earning a swat from Sensei Wu, who wanted them to listen.

“You’ve only heard half the story. In Ninjago, there has always been balance between good and evil. So you know about how the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, but what if I were to tell you in order for there to be light, there must be shadow. And within shadow, there is darkness. The blackest of darkness. Darkness that existed from the very beginning. An evil spirit called the Overlord,” Misako explained.

“Did you know about this, Sensei?” Zane inquired.

Sensei Wu sighed. “I had hoped if I’d kept the secret, that name would never be spoken again.”

“The balance was at stake,” Misako continued, “and their battle could have gone on for eternity. Each side powerful, neither could conquer the other, until the Overlord created his indestructible warriors: The Stone Army. The Spinjitzu Master did what he could, but he knew he would soon be defeated. So instead of losing the war, he divided Ninjago in two. And lucky for us, since then, there has been no trace of the Overlord, or his Stone Army; until my recent discovery.”

Moppet coughed, “Um, there  _ has _ been more than a trace of the Stone Army.”

“What do you mean? Did you find one of them?” Misako asked.

“More than that. We followed a Serpentine into the old thieves caverns, but it turned into a Stone Warrior while inside. It started talking to something through a portal, but we couldn’t understand what it was saying,” Lloyd replied.

“Then perhaps it was a lone Stone Warrior. If the Overlord had returned, he would have revived his entire army by this point,” Misako mused.

“So the battle between Light and Dark hasn't been resolved yet because it never finished,” Alexia reasoned.

“Where is this Dark Island? I’ve never heard of it,” Cole pointed out.

“Disappeared, I presume. But the legend states that so long that the balance between good and evil remains even, the Overlord shall remain trapped from this world,” Misako responded before looking to Lloyd. “I have always feared that your father’s ambition would ultimately lead to a shift in the balance. That is why he must be stopped.”

“We have each felt the power of the First Spinjitzu Master, passed on the form of the elemental weapons. But now that power has been inherited by the Green Ninja, which is why only Lloyd can defeat the ultimate evil, or else all of Ninjago will fall prey to its’ darkness,” Sensei Wu remarked.

“But... that’s a paradox in itself,” Alexia countered. “If a balance  _ must _ be maintained, like Yin and Yang, then the final battle is an impossibility! For anyone to succeed, light or darkness, the other would have to be destroyed. Then the balance would get thrown out the window and we’d probably be facing the end of the world.”

“That’s why I devoted my life to this research. I felt I had to find a way to stop the final battle from occurring,” Misako responded before placing her hand on Lloyd’s shoulder. “Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Misako whispered, tears again in her eyes. “But faced with saving you and the world, I had no other choice.”

Lloyd nodded feebly before hugging his mother, the weight on his heart gone. “So you’ve found a way to avoid me having to face Dad?”

“No, but I believe there’s still hope,” Misako smiled, causing her son to smile in return...

...but yet again, the tender moment was quite rudely interrupted by screams of, ‘it’s alive!’ coming from nearby. More screams were soon heard along with a loud thud as something large and heavy landed on the museum floor. About two seconds later, a  _ GIANT _ (extra emphasis on the size, of course) Stone Warrior broke, or, more precisely, smashed through the door.

“Okay, will somebody please tell me, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” Jay screamed, terrified.

“That’s the Stone Warrior I found in this pit!” Misako responded, fear enveloping her.

“The Devourer’s venom must have awakened it,” Zane deduced.

“Aw, great! Kai, Alexia, take care of him!” Cole ordered.

“Us?” The pair asked in unison, uncharacteristically unconfident. When Cole nodded, the two sighed, pulling on their hoods and pulling out their katanas. Kai ran out first, jumping to strike the first blow...

...only for his katana to shatter on contact. “Well, that played out differently in my head,” Kai noted.

Alexia, wisely, stopped trying to attack, not wanting to have to replace hers as she had grown fond of the sword (evidence in her naming the weapon after her 8th grade lab experiment, ‘Spikey’). At least, she stopped attacking until the Stone Warrior grabbed her boyfriend by the leg and started shaking him like a rag doll.

“You, you, you... BAKA-INFUSED PIG-HEADED ASSHOLE!” Alexia cried, grabbing Lane’s sledgehammer (it was on the floor where Lane had dropped it after coming to this room in her coma-like state) and slamming it repeatedly into the Stone Warrior’s leg.

“The Overlord made his Stone Army from an indestructible material found only on the Dark Island!” Misako warned.

“You could have mentioned that earlier!” Kai groaned, blood rushing to his head. Alexia merely snorted in response, continuing to hammer away at the Stone Warrior.

“LET HIM GO, YOU... BAKA... MORONIC... STUPID... MIDGET!” Though quite repetitive for an insult, Alexia’s tirade did the trick in getting the Stone Warrior to drop, or throw, Kai, who landed in a nearby vase. It was certainly not an act of kindness, however; Stone Warriors, believe it or not, did have feelings, and this one was very offended at being called a midget, particularly since it took pride in its’ height. So it reached for Alexia, who only just dodged before throwing her weapon at the Stone Warrior’s head. It barely grazed the Stone Warrior’s cheek before it landed on the ground, at which point the statue promptly stepped on it.

“I think you made it angry!” Moppet squealed.

“Lloyd, use your powers,” Sensei Wu advised. Lloyd nodded, concentrating and creating a ball of green energy in his hands. After allowing his powers to focus for a few more moments, Lloyd fired a beam of energy at the Stone Warrior, forcing it to move back with a flash of light. The celebratory moment of victory was crushed by the Stone Warrior stepping back into the room, completely unharmed, and looking more angry than ever, though its’ attention had now shifted to Lloyd.

“Uh, just one question...  _ How _ are we supposed to destroy this thing?!” Moppet questioned Sensei Wu.

“You can’t,” Misako whispered, causing everyone to gulp.

The ninja (excluding Lloyd, who was protecting him mother, and Moppet, who was trying to hide behind a still out-of-it Lane) rushed forward, attacking the Stone Warrior. Each was soon thrown, punched, or kicked out of the room, soon to be followed by the others.

“Ugh, this is going to be a lot harder than tiny figurines in a gift shop,” Alexia muttered, helping Kai to his feet.

“RUN!” Jay yelled, though there really was no need; everyone was already well on their way out of the Stone Warrior’s range, trying to find a safe haven from the monster. Unfortunately, despite its’ size, the Stone Warrior was fast on its’ feet, causing it to catch up to the ninja rather quickly. The group ran upstairs, and managed to close the doors to the second floor exhibit before the Stone Warrior was inside.

Zane unloaded Lane from his back, and Alexia shook Lane’s shoulders. “C’mon, Lane, we can’t keep carrying you!” Alexia told her, but Lane merely continued to mumble.

“S-Sis... I’m scared,” Moppet whimpered, causing Lane to snap out of her confused haze.

“Sorry...” Lane muttered, holding her head. “You’re right, cartoon histories are way too weird to be understood.”

By this point, the Stone Warrior had begun pounding away at the door, causing fear to re-ignite itself in the room. “This thing is unstoppable!” Cole groaned.

“Indestructible, to be precise,” Zane corrected.

“That door won’t hold for much longer,” Kai reminded.

“Then let’s settle this like men... with rock, paper, clamp! Loser has to take it on while the rest of us escape!” Jay suggested.

“No way are we leaving this up to chance!” Lane argued, getting up off the floor. “Someone get me a whiteboard, I’ll make a plan,” She announced, cracking her knuckles.

Alexia wheeled one in, and Lane began writing furiously. “Where’d you get that?” Kai asked, panic momentarily forgotten.

“Nowhere...” Alexia replied evasively.

Lane continued drawing and writing while holding out her left hand, where Moppet placed a new marker. After about thirty seconds of writing, Lane finished, triumphantly gesturing to the full whiteboard. “There, it’s flawless!”

While the majority of the group saw meaningless scribbles, Moppet and Alexia were nodding as they read a clearly defined plan. “Wait a minute, what’s the trampoline for?” Alexia asked.

“Oh, oops, that’s leftover from my first attempt at this,” Lane muttered, erasing that detail.

“Sis, where are we supposed to get a rocket?” Moppet questioned, confused.

“Well, it was either that or a bottomless pit. Our ability to find a rocket stands at 2.37%, but our ability to find a bottomless pit, which is a statistical impossibility normally but in this world  _ may _ be possible, stands at about 0.000092%,” Lane replied.

“You mean like the bottomless pit in the room we were just in?” Alexia remarked.

“...Really? I have  _ got _ to work on my observation when I’m semi-unconscious,” Lane muttered. “But with that, the plan does achieve a 63.85% chance of working, up from a 26.93% chance.”

“I thought you said this plan was flawless!” Lloyd said, exasperated.

“It is flawless on the drawing board, but then again almost everything is.”

“She does make a good point,” Zane said, now understanding the scribbles on the board.

“Fine, we’ll give it a chance!” Cole conceded.

“Good, because you guys are the distraction! Well, you four, I need Alexia and Moppet to help set this up, and Lloyd’s the bait once it’s done,” Lane noted.

“WHAT?!” The male ninja chorused.

“You heard me, would you rather face this thing head on?” Lane demanded.

All of them quickly shook their heads, groaning. “Be quick, we have no idea how long we can keep it occupied!” Kai told her. Lane nodded, grabbing her helpers and bait before leading them to the long route back to the pit room.

“Good luck,” Lloyd said.

“Be careful!” Misako yelled to her son, who nodded before leaving the room. “I can’t believe he’s Lord Garmadon’s son.”

“Don’t forget, he’s your son as well,” Sensei Wu told her.

“He’s had a good teacher,” Misako remarked.

“You mean, teachers,” Sensei Wu corrected, motioning to his remaining students.

Five minutes later...

The Stone Warrior broke down the door, only to be met with a silent room. It cautiously moved about the room, trying to find the annoying little vermin which had attacked him.

From the floor above, Jay motioned to Cole, who nodded and jumped from the railing, landing on one of the fossilized skeletons. He cut the supports with his scythe before leaping off the bones, and said bones landed on the Stone Warrior, dazing it for a few moments.

“Whoa! Direct hit!” Jay cried, elated. The male ninja, plus Sensei Wu and Misako, slid down from the upper floor via a skeleton and admired their handiwork.

“Did we get him?” Cole’s question was answered by a low growl, and mere seconds later the Stone Warrior began to emerge from the pile.

“Do you think Lane is ready with her plan?” Zane asked worriedly.

“I hope so!” Cole responded as the group began to run away from the enraged Stone Warrior. As the group continued to run, Misako notice the tapestries hanging from the banisters.

“This way!” She slid down the nearest one, and once Misako had safely landed on the lower floor, the others followed suit. The Stone Warrior was right behind, and crashed down onto the ground floor with a thud. The group was scattered by the impact, leaving Misako the only one in front of the Stone Warrior. It began chasing her, and though she at first managed to hide behind a large vase and pillar, the Stone Warrior quickly found her and the chase resumed.

It was only as Misako passed the room with the tapestries on Ninjago’s creation that Misako ceased running. “Mom, this way!”

“Lloyd!” Misako ran into the room, relieved at her son’s safety before remembering that a giant monster was chasing her. The Stone Warrior came closer and closer, but Lloyd skillfully backed away to just before the roped off area, which curiously was missing its’ bottomless pit.

“Hey loser!” Lloyd shouted. “Paper beats rock!”

The Stone Warrior, undeterred, sprinted towards Lloyd. “Now!” Lane cried. As Lloyd grabbed his mother and jumped out of the way, Alexia and Moppet, at opposite ends of the room, each pulled their end of a long, thick rope tight and waist high. The Stone Warrior, surprised, tripped (and nearly made the two girls lose their balance although they were able to let go of the rope in time) and landed in the roped off area. The paper covering the bottomless pit held for less than a millisecond before tearing, and the Stone Warrior fell face first into the pit. There was a moment of tense silence before everyone cheered.

“Lloyd, thank goodness you’re safe!” Misako whispered happily, hugging her son.

The others, now recovered, entered the room. Alexia quickly hugged Kai before berating her best friend. “Why the hell did you have to use him as bait?!”

“Hey, Lloyd was bait, Kai was a distraction! Besides I used Zane too, so there!” Lane retorted. 

The two girls continued to argue, showing no sign of stopping, so after the first ten seconds the others decided to ignore the escalating fight.

“Misako, come with us. Help us fight the good fight,” Sensei Wu implored.

“If that’s alright with my son,” Misako replied. Lloyd smiled.

“Hey, the more the merrier!” He said, returning his mother’s hug, and for once in the chapter the tender moment was not interrupted, despite the bickering in the background.


	37. Aphrodite's Unwilling Assistants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moppet decides to play Cupid for the day, dragging Alexia into it and causing two people's emotional breakdowns.

While Alexia was used to waking up to strange situations, this morning proved to be the absolute strangest by far. For one thing, Moppet was fully awake and had clothing and food ready for the older girl. For another, Lane’s bunk was empty and showed no signs of having been used.

“Wazzgoinon?” Alexia muttered, confused.

“Rise and shine, we have work to do!” Moppet insisted.

“But I thought training starts after dawn, and it’s still dark outside.”

“Not that kind of work. We are spending the morning being Aphrodite’s assistants!”

“Who the hell said I’m helping that two-faced, cheating, manipulative baka? That chick started the Trojan War!”

“I mean we’re acting like Cupid,” Moppet sighed.

“Oh. You do know Cupid is Aphrodite’s kid, right?”

“Yes, but both work in the art of love, which is what we are doing today.”

“And exactly what are we doing in the art of love?” To explain, Moppet led Alexia to the control room, which Lane had recently taken over. The female blood ninja was currently poring over texts, scrolls, and conspiracy theories on the deep, dark Web  **(this is a place you DO NOT want to go to, people)** . “And... so? Lane’s been doing this since yesterday, she’s basically being the Question right now.”

Moppet looked at Alexia, stunned. “You knew about this?”

“Lane’s essentially a conspiracy theorist now, she dropped that hint with her ice cream shop idea four chapters ago. She told me she’s trying to prove Misako is actually the Dark Lord and used Lord Garmadon as a puppet to keep people from guessing she’s the mastermind. So how does this tie into us being Cupid for the day?”

“Look who’s in there with her,” Moppet insisted. Alexia rolled her eyes, not even bothering to.

“I know Zane’s in there with her, he follows Lane around. He’s been doing it since Lane got out of the time vortex. Again I ask: how does this tie into us being Cupid for the day?”

“Just look at the two of them! They’re clearly destined to be together.”

Alexia snorted, “And what makes you so sure?”

“You know she secretly wants it, look how overt a hint she gave at the museum! Freud would be proud,” Moppet replied.

“You read Freud?”

“Lane made me read it at bedtime.”

Facepalming, Alexia looked at Moppet. “And why, other than the hint, do you think this will end well?”

“Well, one’s a brilliant, calm, collected, capable person who’s trying to figure out normal human behavior, and the other one’s a robot.” Moppet pointed out.

“Okay, so what are we supposed to do?”

“Remember that godly favor you have over Lane?”

“...Yes?” Alexia said cautiously.

“Umm... can you make Lane kiss Zane?” Moppet immediately ducked for fear of vengeance.

Instead, the older girl stared at Moppet. “Please tell me my ears are clogged, because I’m sure I didn’t just hear you ask me to force my best friend to kiss her stalker.”

“Zane is not her stalker, the definition requires that the attention is unwanted,” Moppet argued.

Alexia groaned, “Why are you so hung up on this? Can’t we just let it happen, you know, slowly and normally?”

“If we let it go like that, they’ll never progress. I’m begging you! I’ll do whatever you planned to make Lane do, anything!”

“Moppet, I was going to make her do my bathroom cleaning chores for a month! Do you really want to do that?”

“I’ll clean the bathrooms for  **two** months if that’s what it takes!” Moppet retorted fiercely.

Two minutes later...

“...so the skeletons report to the Serpentine,” Lane murmured, writing on index cards, “and thus Misako remains completely hidden, and,”

“Uh... Lane?” Alexia interrupted. “...Can I talk to you? Privately?”

“Can it wait? I’m almost done with my latest theory,” Lane replied, handing her index cards to Zane, who began tacking them onto a board.

“No, it’s important.”

Shrugging, Lane followed Alexia to the girls’ room. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh, Lane... remember how I can force you to do anything?” Alexia said slowly.

“Yes? I think it's a bit early to ask about the bathroom cleaning rota.” Lane replied.

“It's not that... um, Lane, you need to kiss Zane,” Alexia said quickly.

Lane just stared at Alexia, her face blanching before turning a bright, blotchy shade of red as she rubbed her eyes. “What?!”

“I said... you have to kiss Zane,”

“What?” Lane asked, dumbfounded, “What? How could you- why would you even- I can't! It's just not possible! Why would you even ask me for something like that?”

Alexia groaned, “Lane, don’t question me on this, please just do it.”

“I-I can't! I just established a rapport, do you realize how much work this could destroy? I may as well just jump off the ship, it would certainly be less embarrassing!” Lane paused for a brief moment before hopefully adding, “Could I do that, actually?”

“Lane, the specifics of the godly favor demand that it can't include serious injury! Besides, if you're gone, the only two females left would be Nya and Moppet, and neither of them help me fill the insanity quota for the ship,”

Lane sighed, knowing full well it was only through the combined effort of herself and Alexia that the insanity quota was filled. “...Do you have another, less mortifying option?”

“Uh...” Alexia looked at the girls’ room door, where Moppet promptly shook her head and began communicating via sign language. “...You can kiss Cole instead?”

“Lords, gods, and demons, no! Somehow that’s even worse!” Lane gasped, holding her head.

Alexia just sighed, saying, “Look, I'll explain it later. Just... please go.”

“Okay, whatever you say...” Lane answered doubtfully, before coming face to face with Moppet. “AAUGH!”

About thirty seconds later...

Zane was still in the control room, calmly waiting for Lane to return. He had fetched extra index cards while she was gone, and was ready to resume assisting her in her endeavors. Personally, he found the theories quite ridiculous, but Zane enjoyed helping Lane, as it gave him some time to be with Lane other than during training and chores.

Lane re-entered the room, her face a deep shade of crimson. “Lane? Has something occurred?” Zane asked worriedly.

Instead of answering his question, Lane sighed, unsure how to proceed. Uncertainty rising, she began babbling. “Look I'm sorry, I'm really sorry about this, I didn't have any choice and now I'm going to have to- oh heck, I'm sorry I didn't want to do this,” Lane ranted before walking up to Zane and giving him a quick, but firm, kiss.

The subsequent rush of emotions in Zane can best be separated into the following categories:

  1. Joy: While Zane did not want to admit it, he truly had deep feelings for Lane, and the fact that she had just kissed him was incredible
  2. Anguish: Her explanation made it painfully clear (at least to Zane) that Lane had no feelings for him
  3. Regret: Zane now felt that Lane would never kiss him again, and he had been too distracted by this tragedy to fully enjoy the one kiss he got



Suffice to say, neither party was particularly happy. Lane ducked her head, excused herself, and darted out of the room, leaving Zane crushed and depressed.

Three hours later...

Moppet threw open the girls’ room door, having finally found Lane’s hiding place. Despite having some idea of Lane’s current emotional state, Moppet was surprised at what she saw.

Lane was curled up on her bunk, hugging a tub of peppermint bark and munching furiously. Her eyes were red, and her pillow was wet from tears.

“Good god, what happened?!” Moppet demanded.

“It’s all Alexia’s fault!” Lane moaned, gnawing on yet another piece of peppermint bark. “I hate her!”

Moppet groaned, “Look, I was the one who asked Alexia to use her godly favor for this!”

“You? B-but why?”

“Lane, it's obvious you have feelings for Zane! You can’t deny that!”

“I... I don’t like Zane- I'm not allowed to like Zane, don’t you get it? He’s a perfect well-trained ninja, and a beautiful mesh of art and technology besides! I’m just someone with remarkably deep-rooted issues and a penchant for displaying large amounts of power!” Lane wailed, putting her head into the tub of peppermint bark.

Moppet snorted, “Lane, get it into your head that your issues are gone! You haven’t had meds in weeks and you're completely fine! Who says you can’t like Zane? He obviously has feelings for you; he cares for you and tries to protect you! You’re not a broken person; you're an incredibly intelligent, slightly awkward, physically capable woman who deserves someone who loves and respects you, and that's Zane!”

Lane blinked, rubbing her eyes. “He... He likes me?” She hiccuped.

“Lane, it’s a sign of devotion that he ensures your safety and always wants to be with you! Even Alexia and I couldn't stand your conspiracy theories, but Zane listens to you for hours! That's devotion, dangit!” Moppet argued.

“He likes me... I didn't even know that was possible... I- wow- he really does, doesn't he?” Lane whispered, putting aside her tub of peppermint bark.

Moppet sighed, “Yes, he really does. And you made him an emotional train wreck! Right now, he looks like someone ran over him with a bus!”

“You'd think you'd see a mark from the bumper,” Lane murmured, not paying much attention to Moppet.

“UGH, not literally!” Moppet nearly yelled, “Look, when you explained it to him, he took it as rejection, so now Alexia’s trying to keep him from throwing himself off the ship in depression!”

“But I was just trying to apologize for invading his personal space...”

“Well, I doubt it sounded that way! Now go and explain to him that you like him back!”

Lane was stunned, but sensing Moppet would force her to do so anyway, decided to follow Moppet’s recommended course of action- anyway, if  **(in Lane’s mind, when, as Moppet had always understood people better)** Moppet was right about how Zane felt, she might even be able to spend her next rest day with him.

Outside...

“For the love of Meyneth, GET AWAY from the edge!” Alexia pleaded, trying to tug Zane from the side of the ship. She was exceedingly glad the other male ninja were in the game room since there was no way Alexia was explaining this to the others.

“What good would that do?” Zane asked, miserable. In other, more levelheaded moments, Zane might have remembered that even jumping from this high, cartoon physics and the designation of being a robot would have prevented him from being killed on impact, but this was not a moment of calmness.

“No one... wants you... to jump!” Alexia gasped, her energy being spent from attempting to prevent Zane’s jump. “At least... wait... until... Lane... gets here!”

Fortunately for all parties, Lane came out onto the deck, looking slightly less worse for wear thanks to having washed her face prior to coming out. “Um... Zane?”

Upon hearing Lane’s voice, Zane, shocked, turned from the edge and walked towards her, giving Alexia the chance to rest (dragging a metal being for any distance is no small feat). “Is... is there something wrong?” Zane’s voice was hollow; he expected, not wrongly, that his day was about to go from bad to worse.

“Could... could I... um... talk to you? Alone?” Lane was stammering, trying to figure out the best course of action. Stunned, Zane merely followed Lane to an empty room where Lane sat down, playing with her hands to try and ease her nervousness, which failed. “Uh... about earlier… we both seem to have misunderstood the situation. I was trying to apologise for invading your personal space and complicating our friendship… I had no idea that you-”

Lane’s rambling apology cut off suddenly as Zane hugged her, “So you don’t hate me?” he inquired.

“Never!” Lane insisted, returning the hug fiercely.

“So,” said Zane a few seconds later, “Where do we go from here?”

“Logically I think the best option would be to begin spending our rest days together.”

“This Thursday?”

“I’m good with that. See you at dinner."

The two hugged one more time and left, evidently pleased with the way things had turned out.

Alexia looked at Lane as she exited the room, confused. “Does all drama end like that with you?”

“Yeah mostly, why?”

"...Okay." Alexia let Lane pass, and Moppet grinned.

"Everything went well," She cheered before hearing Alexia groan.

"Moppet, you have your sister an emotional breakdown and made Zane want to jump off the ship. This  _ barely _ avoided a horrible end."

"But they're together now," Moppet pointed out.

"You're still getting extra bathroom duty for three months."

"You said two months last time!"

"The drama earned you an extra month."

Moppet grumbled, but shuffled towards the bathroom, knowing it would be a long three months.


	38. Teasing and Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexia and Lane get teased about their relationships, and the next day, the ninja set about using their powers freely to prepare for the final battle, leading to a very exhausting day.

The shadow was, for the first time in days, calm. The arrival of his pawn, the Lord of Darkness, had soothed some of his fears. At the very least, it meant that not all of his plans were in tatters; at most, it meant that the shadow now had a powerful ally.

And yet, the shadow could not shake off the feeling that he was grossly unprepared for what was to come. Light had spiked, followed quickly by Water. And Blood had not been far behind. All three were now trained in their spinjitzu, and the shadow knew it would not be long before each could control their element freely.

Cursing, the shadow found himself watching the Lord of Darkness climbing the tallest mountain of the island. There rested the Celestial Clock, the key to the shadow’s plans. As long as the Lord of Darkness activated the clock, the shadow’s plans would continue to progress.

But that would not be enough. The shadow knew he had to now account for the extra three ninja; his instinct told him to attack, but his wisdom from his years on this earth told him otherwise. He needed to observe them first, and strike carefully. After all, it was carelessness which had lead to the shadow losing in other timelines.

Sometimes it was Light who ceased his plans, helping the Spinjitzu Master in battle. Often it had simply been the raw force of Earth or Lighting giving aid. Ice, too, was dangerous; each of their masters was coldly intelligent and methodical, outsmarting the shadow’s timeline counterparts. It might even be the deadly combination of Water and Fire assisting the Spinjitzu Master. Once it had been Blood who had stopped him; she had sacrificed herself to give her allies time to defeat him.

This time, the shadow promised himself, things would be different. He had observed Fire, Earth, Ice, and Lightning throughout their lives, carefully keeping them from each other; failing that, the observations had made their weaknesses clear to the shadow. Despite being wild cards, the shadow knew that Blood, Water, and Light were not strong enough to face him in their current state, and with the final battle approaching, there wasn’t the time to train them to this point.

All the shadow had to do was separate them. Without support, the shadow had little doubt of his ability to defeat the Green Ninja; the Lord of Darkness could have handled the Green Ninja alone, but in the last battle, the shadow would give the Lord of Darkness all the reinforcement necessary to ensure victory. So for now, the shadow waited.

Elsewhere...

Moppet walked into the girls’ room, thoroughly disgusted. “You’re a terrible,  _ terrible _ person,” She accused Alexia, who shrugged.

“And you’re the one who nearly caused someone’s suicide,” Alexia countered. Moppet hung her head, flopping onto her bunk.

“But it turned out well! I don’t deserve this!” She insisted.

“If everyone got what they deserved, Lane would have P.h.D. in robotics, I would be a ninth degree black belt, and you would be the president of the United States.”

A further argument was prevented by the arrival of Lane, who was carrying a large stack of papers. “I think I’ve finally proven my theory!”

“Which one?” Moppet asked.

“The one about Misako being the Dark Lord, of course!”

“Wait, it took you two weeks? Normally it just takes a few days...”

“There was lots of history involved with it. Anyway, I was kinda... preoccupied,” Lane admitted.

Alexia smirked, leaning off her top bunk. “Preoccupied with your favorite robot?”

Lane turned beet red. “Alexia!” She yelled, scandalized and embarrassed.

“What? It’s true.”

“Why are you teasing me?” Lane demanded. “I thought you were my friend!”

“I’m your best friend, I  _ have _ to tease you, it’s in the job description!”

“Do you want me to tease you about Kai?”

“Go ahead,” Alexia replied.

“Um… Your uniforms aren’t color-coordinated, and you both smell funny after you exercise!” Lane tried.

Alexia burst out laughing. “Try again.”

Annoyed at Alexia and eager to defend Lane, Moppet stepped up to the plate. “We all know the nonchalance is just an act. Have you  _ seen _ the googly eyes?”

“Moppet!” Alexia shouted, horrified.

“C’mon, it’s obvious you’re in lo~ove with him! Don’t you remember how yesterday in training Kai said-”

Alexia threw a pillow at Moppet, effectively cutting her off. “Shut up, you overzealous midget! This is between me and Lane!”

“Lane and I,” Lane corrected automatically.

“Well, Lane was clearly unprepared, so I decided to help,” Moppet fired back. Grinning, Lane high fived her younger sister, pleased with Moppet’s ability to understand social interactions.

“J-just shut up, both of you!” Alexia groaned, hiding her face with another pillow.

Pleasantly surprised at this turn of events, Lane merely chuckled at her best friend’s discomfort. “See? Moppet is acting how a friend would. Truce? And if you say no, I  _ will _ write that detailed, embarrassing biography of you.”

“Fine...” Alexia agreed. “But we both know enough about each other to be capable of that.”

Moppet pulled out her claws, checking to ensure they were still sharp. “Really, why are both of you so embarrassed about your relationships? Nya is fine when the guys tease her.”

“You have better ammunition for teasing,” Alexia retorted, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“Zane and I aren’t in a relationship,” Lane replied. “We just spend time together and discuss science and enjoy similar pursuits and,”

“That’s the definition of being in a relationship, Lane,” Moppet sighed, annoyed at her sister’s lack of social knowledge.

Lane blinked before looking at Alexia, “Then I apologize for cheating on you, Alexia, because clearly we are in a relationship as well.”

Alexia stared at her before throwing a pillow at her, shouting, “I’M NOT A LESBIAN, LANE!”

“Relationships require a deeper level of intimacy,” Moppet hurried added.

“Oh. Sorry, Alexia, I guess I was wrong,” Lane said before Alexia threw another pillow at her.

“So, while going through all that history, did you find anything on the Stone Warriors?” Moppet asked, hoping to prevent any further arguments.

“Oh yeah!” Lane hopped off of her bunk, grabbing scrolls from underneath her bed. “I gave Zane a few, so he could explain this to the others, but we found a small amount of useful information.”

“Wait, we looked  _ everywhere _ for information on Stone Warriors. How’d you find it so quickly?” Alexia questioned.

“The research we did before didn’t include weird, obscure rumors and interesting gossip.”

“And where’d you two find that?” Lane held up a book from the museum titled, ‘Weird, Obscure Rumors and Interesting Gossip of Ancient Ninjago’. “...Of course, why wouldn’t there be a book on that?” Alexia grunted.

“We  _ are _ in a cartoon,” Moppet reminded.

“Anyway, the book goes over sightings dating back to... about 90 years ago,” Lane began.

“Wait, that suggests this  _ entire _ continent is less than a hundred years old! There’s literally only been, at most, four generations of people!” Alexia interrupted.

“Yes,” Lane sighed, “And the museum tried to make it seem like more, but really it just made everything more confusing. But the book manages to explain some characteristics of the Stone Warriors.”

“Which are?”

“Their general inability to be harmed,” Lane replied, flipping through the pages, frowning in concentration. “Most of the rumors just boil down to people not being able to harm any Stone Warriors.”

Moppet groaned, “Is there any new information? We kinda already knew that.”

“Uh...” Lane frantically searched the book before stopping at one page. “There was one sighting about 85 years ago about their language. Apparently it’s indecipherable, mainly grunts and other noises, but their generals were seen speaking English.”

“How does that help us?” Alexia asked, confused.

Lane shrugged, “It tells us they have an organized military with ranks, and that any intercepted communications would be impossible to interpret. But that justs reinforces our current lack of strategies.”

“So we’re helpless. Fantastic,” Alexia muttered.

The next day...

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the world was at a rare moment of peace...

...broken by the loud gong in Sensei Wu’s hand, resulting in groans across the ship. “The final battle is coming! We must train and prepare!”

“But Sensei,” Kai started before getting whacked by Sensei Wu’s bamboo stick.

“No buts! Today, each of you will attempt to channel your element  _ without _ using your weapons or your Spinjitzu,” Sensei Wu continued. “It is time you stopped relying on both to use your elements.”

“Sensei, how will the girls channel their elements?” Zane inquired, worried, as always, for Lane. “They only just learned Spinjitzu, and they have not reached their full potential.”

“You will train them to achieve their full potential, as I taught you,” Sensei Wu answered. “Now, rise, there is no time to waste!”

Two long, arduous hours later...

“How... the... hell... do... you... do... this?!” Alexia groaned, exhausted. The last two hours had been nothing short of painful; after getting used to channeling water through her sword (which required intense concentration and patience), she’d tried channeling regular water. The outcome of this was getting soaked from failing water, and becoming worn out from her attempts.

“The fuck am I supposed to know?” Kai grunted, also tired. He had managed a tiny flame in his hand at one point, but primarily all he was able to produce was tiny sparks.

Most of the other ninja had experienced similar problems. The most successful, other than Lloyd, who could already channel his four elements and special powers, were Moppet, Jay, and Lane. Moppet, having experience with her powers (two a.m. wake-up calls anyone?), could to light up her hand and, rarely, both arms, but couldn’t turn this into an effective attack. Jay, after giving himself several shocks, created some lightning bolts before he was so drained he passed out. Out of the failures, Lane’s was the most interesting. She was able to, from her own blood, form a miniature blood missile; unfortunately, after its’ creation, the missile shot into Lane’s stomach, resulting in a horrible bruise for Lane and an abrupt end to the exercise for Zane, who helped her to the medical room where she stayed for over an hour. Everyone else encountered failure to produce their elements with few exceptions.

Finally, at noon, Sensei Wu called for a break, allowing for a brief, but glorious, stop to the pain and suffering endured. “If we have to have control of our elements at the final battle, I’m calling it now: Ninjago is doomed,” Cole muttered, taking the offered aspirin bottle from Jay.

“We should stay optimistic,” Nya retorted, coming into the dining room with ice packs. “That kind of attitude will make sure we fail.”

“Normally, I would disagree with everything Cole says because of his horrendous cooking skills, but in this instance, I have to agree with him,” Lane replied, Zane rubbing her back for comfort.

“Do you just rate people based on their cooking skills?” Cole grunted, annoyed that the running gag of his cooking skills had gone on  _ this long _ .

“Lane, give him a break; we’re 38 chapters in, the joke is stale,” Moppet said.

Any further conversation was stalled with the arrival of food, a rare treat of takeout. Specifically, Chipotle, which magically did exist in Ninjago. The male ninja hadn’t tried it before the female ninja’s arrival, but were now just as addicted to the delicious, tex-mex food. As such, everyone dug into their burritos (and tacos, in the case Jay and Lloyd, and a bowl for Nya) with such a fervor that none of the food was left after five minutes.

“Only the deliciousness of Chipotle can heal my sorrows,” Lane sighed contently.

“I thought peppermint bark does the same thing,” Alexia pointed out.

“Yes, but not sorrows this deep.”

The wonderful feeling of fullness from Chipotle was swiftly ruined by the sounding of the gong. “Return to training, ninja!” Sensei Wu called.

The collective groan from the occupants of the ship could be heard three miles away.


	39. An Answer To A Request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the authors comply with a reader's wish before returning to the plot, where Lane embraces her conspiracy theorist side. The next day, Moppet finds herself becoming closer to Lloyd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take note that the beginning is not at all related to the plot; it is instead a bit written due to a review requesting something. We initially responded as follows:  
> XW1958: And now, we respond to a special request from Darkrainbow (Guest), who asked us to use her OC in this particular story. Originally, I intended to politely say that such a character is best reserved for one’s own story, but upon reading the description and at the encouragement of my co-writer do0m... we’ve decided to insert the OC in the story in a... special... fashion...  
> do0m: HaHAhAhAhaHahAHAHaHA *insert more maniacal laughter, leading to a choking, coughing wheeze as do0m runs out of breath, here*

In a really random corner of Ninjago...

On a certain street corner stood a girl, who happened to really not like anyone. In fact, if you came near her, she would probably hiss or something, she was that rude. She didn’t have parents, but by god did she not care, because she had probably hated them too. She was determined to be better than everyone and be absolutely mean to them. She also disliked anyone telling her what to do, believing she was always right.

At this moment, while the girl was thinking about her intense hatred, a steamroller came down the street. Being preoccupied with her hatred and self-proclaimed perfection, the girl was right in the middle of the street. The driver of said steamroller was on the phone, and thus did not see the girl right in the way.

Naturally, the steamroller ran  _ right. over. _ the girl. However, rather than scream or cry out like a normal person, the girl merely began hating the steamroller driver, and ranted about how she knew better than him. The steamroller driver frowned at the small bump in the road, but, hearing no screams, shrugged it off as an uneven road.

The girl, as it turned out, was not even dead; she was flattened, but still lightly breathing, and promptly began wasting that breath seething towards the driver and the fact that her jordans were now ruined. Thankfully, this complaining lasted only a few moments, as a piano being raised into an apartment by a rope fell on the girl due to the rope conveniently snapping. The piano did not kill the girl, but did, gloriously, shut her mouth.

Despite being completely silenced, the girl continued to seethe and complain mentally about everyone except herself being an idiot, when a nuclear warhead, redirected by some mysterious force, landed directly on the girl, finally killing the annoying bugger.

Two figures in the distance, one holding a laptop which she’d used to hack the government and a cell phone, and the other holding a pair of garden snippers, high-fived, denoting a job well done.

“Well, that solves that,” The first said, closing up her laptop.

“Let’s just hope no one else asks for another character,” The second sighed, “We’d run out of death ideas, we used almost all of them on the last story.”

The first tilted her head, amused. “ _ You _ might have, but I’ve got  _ tons _ .”

“Don’t encourage them, we’ve got enough on our plate, managing a huge story like this, it’s three times longer than the last one,” The second retorted. “Now let’s go, I don’t want to miss my Physics test, and your roommate will get worried if you’re gone too long.”

“Meh, I’ll just bribe her with Nutella, she’ll be fine,” The first shrugged, vanishing into thin air, followed by the second disappearing as well.

**do0m: It’s not that we have anything against you, or self-insert characters (you may have noticed there are a few in this story), but your character is indubitably a Mary Sue. I have an obligation to destroy said creatures of darkness as a member of the PPC. Really, no offense meant.**

**...also, you may want to check for logic errors, spelling and grammatical mistakes. Just -- proofreading is a beautiful thing and spellcheck is your friend. Your very best friend.**

**XW1958: Seriously, I meant it when I said I was going to be ambivalent, but... we both felt it was the only way to handle the situation. We mean no offense; instead, we simply request you revise your character (specifically the hate-everything part, it’s a flag for Mary Sues).**

And now back to actual plot...

Everyone on the Bounty was in the control room, where Lane had set of the presentation of the century, a truly incredible research task she had labored over. Zane was at the side while the others except Lane were in the middle of the room, slightly confused at what was going on.

Lane cleared her throat, motioning to the main monitor. “As you all well know, I have recently devoted myself to research over a specific topic, and would now like to share it with you all.”

“More like her random guesswork,” Lloyd muttered to Moppet, who, despite herself, giggled.

Shooting Lloyd a two-fold glare, Lane began her presentation. “Now, taking into account the activities of the Serpentine and the absence of the skeletons...”

The entire presentation took over three hours, with Lane stopping anyone from falling asleep with an exceptionally loud air horn. When it finally paused, everyone except Zane and Misako were confused, but certain of Lane’s complete and utter insanity.

“Alright, are there any questions?” Lane questioned, putting away her laser pointer.

Struggling to not laugh, Lloyd pointedly asked, “If we assume this is all true, and I’m still not, then how do you explain my dad traveling to a parallel dimension to gain four arms? Wouldn’t my mom need to do that to become the Dark Lord?”

Lane cleared her throat, “Please turn around, the rest of my evidence is on the other wall.”

About six hours later...

With one final flourish of her laser pointer, Lane smiled, “There ends the theory. Questions?”

Exasperated, and annoyed that the last nine hours had, in his opinion, been wasted, Cole looked at Zane, asking, “Do you actually believe this crap?”

“Her use of evidence is exemplary, although some of it is a bit circumstantial,” Zane opined.

“Really, I find her theory incredible,” Misako put in. “Her research on such a subject must have been substantial, and would have required a great deal of time and effort, which many people today seem to lack.”

“Ha!” Lane grabbed a note card, scribbling fiercely before tacking it to the wall. “Only a person afraid of the theory would approve, to keep attention from themselves!”

“...I’m out,” Alexia muttered, leaving, soon followed by everyone else, because there had been no food during the entire nine hour presentation.

The next day...

With everyone extremely disoriented from the previous day’s... event... Sensei Wu allowed for a rest day, leading to everyone becoming preoccupied...

...except for Moppet, who found herself bored. She’d planned on spending time with Lane, only to find that her older sister was with Zane, who’d timidly requested that the two fix the ship’s navigation systems together, which, for them, was the closest they would ever get to a real date.

So Moppet was stuck in the girls’ room, twiddling her thumbs. She sighed, wondering how her mummy and daddy were. Moppet had (somewhat) come to terms with the idea of never seeing her parents again, but she still missed them deeply. Desperate for something to do, she closed her eyes and began writing an imaginary letter to her parents.

_ Dear Mummy and Daddy, _

_ Hi! Is Puss still annoying Fluffy? Or did she learn her lesson after Fluffy swatted her last time? I don’t think so; Puss is such a kitten. Do you miss me? I think about you everyday, I promise! I’ve made lots of friends, though, so don’t worry about that. _

_ The guys here are a little... weird... but they’re really nice... normally. Lane got a boyfriend, it’s true! His name is Zane, and he’s perfect for her, they’re the smartest people ever and still so... well, awkward. But Alexia got a boyfriend too, he’s a hothead like her. _

_ I’m okay, but... I’ve grown a lot. I mean it, you guys... would be surprised, I guess. I miss you so much, I wish you were with me! _

Ending her letter, Moppet realized she’d been crying through the entire ordeal. The weight on her heart was immense, crushing, even.

“Moppet?” Lloyd had poked his head in, looking for a Smash 4 opponent, only to be shocked (and slightly alarmed) at Moppet’s tears.

“Y-yeah?” Moppet sniffed, wiping her eyes. “S-sorry, I’ll b-be okay.”

Lloyd shook his head, sighing, rubbing her back. “You shouldn’t have to hide it,” He whispered softly.

“I’m fine, I swear,” Moppet insisted.

“No, you’re not.” Lloyd sat down beside Moppet. “What’s wrong?”

“I...” Moppet swallowed before remembering how she’d promised Alexia and Lane that she wouldn’t talk about home. “I can’t say.”

“Why?”

“B-because... because Lane!” Moppet improvised. “She said I can’t!”

Raising his eyebrow, Lloyd grasped Moppet’s hand and took her to the deck. “Well, she can’t hear us from here, she’s below deck.”

“I still can’t.”

“Your sister shouldn’t make you give that kind of promise.”

Moppet just bit her lip, sitting on the edge of the deck. “It’s... it’s hard to explain,”

Lloyd shrugged, sitting down next to her. “We’ve got until dinner.”

A tense silence remained for a few minutes, Moppet just looking at her hands as the wind blew her hair into her face, masking her expression from Lloyd. Lloyd sat beside her, looking out into the distance. “Did I ever tell you how I ended up running away from Darkly’s?”

Surprised, Moppet looked up, curious. “...No. Why did you?”

“Well, I said I got bullied, but that’s the understatement of the century. I woke up every morning to find gunk on all my clean clothes, or sharpie on my face, or, one time, water all over my bed, making it looked like I’d peed the bed. Typically, someone would slip sneezing powder into my food at meals, or they’d just flat-out wedgie me during the time between classes. Once, a really nasty kid put curry powder in my shampoo; I smelled like curry for a week after that. My teacher didn’t care at all. Heck, he probably endorsed it, more evil for the kids.”

“You went through  _ all that _ ?” Moppet asked, shocked. “No wonder you were pissed off at your mom, that sounds horrible.”

“That wasn’t even the worst of it. See, my grandma, the only relative I had who actually wrote or sent stuff, sent me a box of my favorite candy. The main guy who bullied me, Finn, stole it all and replaced it with worms. When the faculty caught me crying about it, they decided to expel me, saying I wasn’t cut out for evil.”

“So... you never even ran away?” Moppet remarked.

“Actually, I did. They wanted to expel me, so I left before finding out that they decided it would be bad for their reputation to get rid of the son of the Dark Lord and weren’t going to kick me out after all.” Despite his story, Lloyd smirked. “I sent the school into a complete panic, they were terrified that my dad might go after them because I ran away.”

Moppet giggled.

“What? I’m serious!”

Moppet just laughed harder.

“What is it?”

“Just- Just imagining those misogynistic jerks that bullied you getting shouted at by your dad,” Moppet said, “And he’s trying to be all authoritative and dramatic and he’s failing at it and they’re being jerks about it...” she dissolved into laughter.

Lloyd, stunned at first, ended up chuckling as Moppet laughed harder and harder. “You know, I never really got back at those assholes,” Lloyd reflected. “Too bad I can’t now, it’d be weird if all of a sudden I went back and just got revenge.”

“So?” Moppet said, “That doesn’t mean you can’t. Just do it anonymously, that way they'll try to get revenge back on each other. It’ll be chaos!”

Grinning, Lloyd rubbed his hands together. “Alright, what would we do? Rig the dining hall? Make all of the water slime? Glue everyone’s beds to the ceiling?”

“Nah, the shoes. Those we can get while everyone’s sleeping, and then the halls will smell like unwashed socks.”

“Or we could- we could,” Llyod dissolved into laughter, “We could sew together all of the principals under-underpants and-”

“Run them up the flagpole?” Moppet suggested, giggling madly.

“Exactly!” Both gave up all composure and simply  _ howled _ with laughter. 

After the two took a minute to calm down twice (the first time, they had looked at each other and started laughing again), the two agreed that these pranks, if ever executed, would need to be done  _ quietly _ as Sensei Wu would doubtless murder them if he found out (or might be disappointed but what’s the difference?)

Lloyd leaned over to Moppet, “You want to see where I normally go when my past starts bothering me? I don’t mind shar- I mean there’s room for two.”

“Okay,” Moppet said, now feeling better about the whole homesickness thing, and being not one to stop others from sharing.

Lloyd led her around to the back of the ship, before he climbed from the top of a railing beside the dining room onto, “The ROOF? Are you CRAZY?” Moppet shouted, terrified.

“Nope, it’s actually pretty stable up here, and you get a pretty cool view,” Lloyd replied, “Come on, don’t be a fraidy-cat.”

Moppet, also not one to turn down so blatant a challenge, promptly leapt up onto the roof before glancing down and attaching herself to Lloyd’s arm like a barnacle.

“Oh yeah,” said Lloyd sheepishly, “you probably shouldn’t look down.”

“I got that, thanks,” replied Moppet hotly, carefully inching away from the edge of the roof.

“If you’re going to be so caustic, then I’m  _ sure _ you can hang out here without someone to hold your hand.”

Moppet meeped and held on tighter.

Lloyd smirked, “Here, come on, let’s move away from the edge.”

With much effort, Moppet was coaxed to the apex of the roof (which made a more comfortable seat than such a precarious position should have), before Lloyd said, “Okay,  _ now  _ look out.”

Moppet did so and immediately gasped. The entire day must have passed while the two were laughing on the deck, as the sky was now a wonderfully blended collection of orange, light blue blue, and yellow streaks, which had combined into a drop-dead  _ gorgeous _ sunset. Fear squashed by the shock of the view, her solid grip on Lloyd’s arm loosened.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Lloyd asked, smiling.

“It’s...” Moppet’s breath was caught in her throat. “It’s wonderful...” Relaxing, Moppet’s hand unconsciously slid down Lloyd’s arm before settling on his hand. His hand turned over and their hands immediately, without thought, closed around each other.

The pair sat for a few more minutes, with Moppet’s eyes drooping as she yawned shifted so she was nearly leaning on Lloyd’s shoulder. “Tired?”Lloyd whispered, turning to face Moppet before freezing, realizing his extremely close proximity to Moppet. 

“Hmm?” Moppet inquired a few seconds later, eyes closed.

“Um... nothing,” Lloyd quickly assured her, silently cursing his sudden shyness.

“Kay.” Snuggling closer to Lloyd (despite being calmer, she still felt more comfortable being next to someone who could catch her if she fell off the roof), Moppet allowed her head to lean to the side and stay against Lloyd’s arm while she semi-napped.

“Sleep well, Mops,” Lloyd whispered, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Roughly five minutes later...

“Mops?” Lloyd asked quietly. “Moppet? It’s almost dinner time.”

“I’m awake,” Moppet muttered, opening her eyes before remembering her location and hugging Lloyd to avoid falling.

“C’mon, I’ll help you down.” Like a true gentlemen (or a normal dude with a crush, pick one), Lloyd assisted Moppet as they disembarked from the roof.

“Thanks!” Moppet turned to go to the dining room, she was  _ starving _ since she’d missed lunch.

“H-hey,” Lloyd began, not sure where to go before deciding the best course of action to be just plowing through his question. “Uh... next time we get shore leave, w-wanna go to the arcade? I-I mean, if not, it’s fine,”

Moppet looked at Lloyd curiously before smiling, “Sure! I’ll ask Lane for extra quarters, she’s bound to have some saved up. Now come on, Zane’s cooking tonight!” She ran off to the dining room, leaving Lloyd stunned.

Lloyd watched as Moppet left before allowing himself a small smile.  _ Well... I guess it’s a start. _ He thought to himself before taking off after Moppet; one did not arrive late to dinner when it was Zane cooking, mainly because there was a good chance of the best food running out- after all, there were ten hungry people on this ship.


	40. And The Battle Begins...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Serpentine burrow underneath Ninjago, and unintentionally release a great evil buried under the city. Let the battle begin, drawing the final confrontation between light and dark closer and closer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's a A/N I felt needs to be included:  
> XW1958: Now, before anything else, do0m and I feel we should explain the whole Moppet and Lloyd situation. They’re probably the weirdest characters of this entire story, and as they will have larger roles coming up very soon in said story, now is the time to give a bit of insight.  
> do0m: These two are children, young children in fact, and are now facing all of puberty at once, while trying to learn to be teens, but teens with the responsibilities of adults.  
> XW1958: In greater detail, it’s essentially that Moppet and Lloyd are ten year-olds trapped in the bodies of seventeen year-olds who are expected to act like they’re twenty five/thirty with the stuff they are supposed to do. It’s like Harry Potter or Star Wars to an even more extreme. Great stories, but at the end of the day, Harry and Luke were kids at the start, and even later on, weren’t even adults. Most modern entertainment is similar (Eragon anyone? Avatar the Last Airbender? Yugioh in all its’ iterations?), and it fails to mention just how awful a burden this kind of thing really is. These guys are kids expected to resolve the mistakes of people who are dead/much older. It’s a terrifying responsibility, and so it’s surprising how few of them crack under the pressure of all of it.  
> do0m: Further, the two are good friends, and are not only both struggling with handling their hormones, but also with the way that they can't risk their friendship because there is literally no-one else in the world who can understand what they're going through. This means that they are going into this attraction thing with itty-bitty baby steps, and daren't even call it a relationship, even to themselves.This is not a normal relationship. Those are a piece of cake compared to what these two are trying to do.  
> XW1958: Also, please take this into account: in the actual show, Lloyd deals with all of this completely on his own. Having a friend in Moppet is invaluable to him, because it means someone else in the world can comprehend his feelings. But that makes Moppet infinitely more precious to Lloyd, and to Moppet, she’s lost all trace of home. Her last link was her age; she always thought she’d be her parents’ little, angel girl, and that whenever they got back, she could just go back to her old life. Now, there is no trace of normalcy for Moppet, none, nada.  
> do0m: These two kids have been through way more than anyone gives them credit for, and will probably need MASSIVE amounts of therapy when all this is over. In the meantime, just understand that although this is incredibly hard for all of the ninja, it's way harder for those two, and they're holding up like the most incredible champions in the world.  
> XW1958: With that now out of the way (sorry it took so long, we just both felt if we didn’t do this now, we’d never get around to it, and that wouldn’t be fair to anyone really, and this needed to be said), on with the chapter!

Within the desert of Ninjago...

If there was anything Skales liked more than the roar of the crowd, he couldn’t remember it. As he stood before his entire species, their cheers filling his ears, Skales felt true fulfillment course through him. Finally, after planning, rejoicing after Pythor’s death and deposing Lord Garmadon of his place as ruler of the Serpentine, Skales had achieved his goal.

Beside him were the other Serpentine leaders, Acidicus with Skales’ scepter of the Hypnobrai and Fangtom held a crown which he placed on Skales’ head, officially recognizing Skales as the Snake King, leader of all races of Serpentine. Bursting with ego, Skales smirked as he looked out at the crowd of Serpentine before speaking.

“Thank you, thank you! You’re too kind!” He shouted at the crowd while muttering to the other generals, “Get down, scram! Go, go, go, go, go!”

“People of mine, Hypnobrai, Venomari, Constrictai, and Fangpyre! Hear me!” Skales bellowed, stamping his staff against the ground to order silence. “The troubled reign of that duplicitous human Garmadon is finally at an end! Our time has come. We Serpentine must now unite, in a common destiny, to secure our place, as rulers of Ninjago, and not let those insufferable surface dwellers win! So, as my first order, I say we burrow beneath their beloved city, to bury them as they once buried us!” The roar of the crowd at this suggestion was deafening.

“Fellow Serpentine! It’s time we knock Ninjago City back down to size!”

On the Bounty...

After many grueling days of training, all the ninja could finally summon their element in semi- useful ways. As a break from such training, the male ninja were focused on giving Lloyd extra training since the final battle was soon to occur.

“Don’t trust your eyes, use your ears,” Cole advised a blindfolded Lloyd. The four older ninja had taken fighting stances around Lloyd, prepared to attack at any moment. Dareth  ***yes he exists in this story, I just don’t like him so I try to keep him out of it*** had agreed to let the ninja use one of his many dojo rooms for training because Lane was still working out some new kinks found in the Bounty (she was prepping it for more effective flight and, perhaps, battle).

Beginning the exercise, Lloyd easily began to defend himself from the others when Dareth walked in. “Guys, I’m teaching a class later, I’d appreciate a clean dojo,” His words were interrupted as Lloyd sent Cole flying into Dareth, followed by his pushing Jay into a display case of trophies.

“No, no, no, no!” Dareth squealed like a little girl, running to protect his fairly meaningless trophies while Lloyd continued beating the other male ninja, at one point again throwing Jay into the air. This time, instead of allowing Jay to hit the window, Dareth quickly opened the window, making it so Jay flew out into the street.

Lloyd, confident and determined to end the exercise, summoned his own brand of green fire, with small flares falling from his hands. Dareth cried out, stomping on the small flames which fell onto the carpet and groaning at his misfortune.

Just then, Alexia and Moppet entered the dojo room, the former quickly ducking out of the way of a well-shot fireball. “Ever heard of breaks?” She muttered, channeling water from a water skin on her hip onto the floor to prevent the building burning down.

Removing the blindfold from his face, Lloyd shrugged. “How are the repairs coming?”

“Lane said she had finished working on the engines, modifying them so they’re fusion instead of gas,” Moppet explained before the ground began to shake.

“This does not feel natural,” Zane remarked after the shaking stopped. “Ninjago City is not on any fault lines.”

Jay, having come in from outside, turned on a nearby TV, which came on to a news broadcast. Sensei Wu, Misako, and Lane joined everyone else after leaving the Bounty. “NGTV Reporter Gale Gossip on the scene of what appears to be an earthquake rocking the city of Ninjago! It’s an earthquake like no other, and scientists have yet to pinpoint the cause. And more frightening still, the aftershocks are getting stronger!”

“Great, just what we need: complete and utter panic,” Jay groaned.

“What do you think this could be?” Cole asked the others.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if it was Garmadon,” Kai grunted. “We haven’t seen him for a while.”

“He would never,” Misako insisted. “Lloyd’s father is evil, but he would never do anything to put his son in harm’s way.”

“Misako is right,” Sensei Wu reasoned. “The only reason he tried to thwart his training; this is something else.”

“Then what the hell is this?” Alexia questioned.

Conveniently, the falcon, having been resting in the dojo room out of sight (Lane and Zane had modified the bird with a camouflage feature to assist in recon) and landed on Zane’s arm. “My friend, be my eyes and look for danger on the streets from above,” Zane implored, releasing the falcon out of the window.

Several hundred feet under Ninjago City...

The Constrictai soldiers continued tunneling while Skales and the other generals looked on in anticipation. “Drill baby, drill!” Skales cried, euphoric.

Invigorated, the soldiers doubled their pace, causing Devourer’s venom, buried in pockets under Ninjago, to come out of the walls, at one point splashing Skales’, who grimaced and swore under his breath. “That infernal Devourer’s venom has sssseeped everywhere!” Skales moaned before bumping into one of the Constrictai soldiers. “Why are we sssstoping?”

“My lord, we’ve hit something, we can’t dig through!” The soldier explained.

Hissing in annoyance, Skales moved forward. “Nonsense! There is no such thing,” Skales’ words were cut off as he saw a large door before him.

“It’s ancient,” Skalidor whispered in awe. “Perhaps older than the Serpentine themselves.”

Back on the Dark Island...

Lord Garmadon, exhausted from his climbing for what seemed to be days, ceased as he reached a small flattened cliff, sighing in relief and complete exhaustion. “This is madness! You test me, Lord Garmadon, rightful ruler of Ninjago?!”

The shadow chuckled. “Patience, Garmadon... All will make sense in time... For now... follow my instructions...”

“To what end?” Lord Garmadon demanded. “What is so important at the top of this cliff?”

“The key to the greatest army ever seen,” The shadow retorted. “And the means to the greatest weapon ever known...”

“What good will these things do for me, marooned on this uninhabited island? How will I return to Ninjago?”

“My master plan... has been in the works... since the beginning of time...” The shadow hissed. “Every piece... moves in perfect harmony like the gears of a clock... slowly shifting the balance of power back to darkness... every piece, that is... but  _ you _ .”

Lord Garmadon, stunned, paused for only another moment before grunting. “Alright then,” He decided, resuming his long climb.

Aaaaaaaaand back to Ninjago...

Screams of panic filled the air as more and more cracks opened in the ground of Ninjago City, causing people to run in the streets, a less than intelligent decision as it endangered everyone by making it so they were even closer to the problematic earthquake and its’ exceedingly violent aftershocks.

As it turned out, one such person saw her dog across the street, and immediately began running to it, failing to notice the cracks forming in the street under her. The ground beneath her quickly sank, leaving the woman below street level with rocks beginning to fall down nearby.

Already in the street, Alexia and Lane ran to the sunken portion. “How stupid can you get?!” Lane ranted, looking down at the woman. “Alexia, get down there, I’ll grab a rope.”

Nodding, Alexia dove in, soon followed by the rope Lane lowered into the area. “Hold tight,” Alexia told the hysterical woman.

“Risking your life for a dog of all things...” Lane muttered, tugging on the rope to little effect.

Alexia snorted, “Because  _ you _ wouldn’t do the same for Puss!”

“Even Puss has the good sense not to be out in these conditions!”

Thankfully, further argument was avoided, as Zane came to Lane’s assistance, and with both of them they managed to drag Alexia and the woman out. The woman promptly picked up her dog and ran off, though she did not end up trapped like before.

“These keep coming with no warning,” Kai groaned in frustration.

“That’s it, a warning!” Misako realized. “The scrolls said the earthquakes would be a warning, a warning for something far worse to come!”

“Far worse?” Moppet gaped, horrified. “What’s worse than violent earthquakes?”

“Misako, the indestructible Stone Warrior we fought a few weeks ago, where did you find it?” Cole asked.

“It was buried underneath the city,” Misako responded.

Jay gulped. “You don’t think there’s more, do you?”

“Be on guard, ninja,” Sensei Wu advised. “We must be ready for whatever comes next.”

Back underground...

The Serpentine stood before the large door, no one speaking a word. Constrictai soldiers were trying to open the door to continue tunneling, but it all seemed to be in vain, as the door refused to budge. “I will not accept defeat!” Skales roared. “Thissss door musssst be desssstroyed if we are to bring down Ninjago City! Call forth every Sssserpentine, and,” Skales’ rant ceased as he looked closer at the door in question. “What’ssss thissss?” He questioned, staring at a drawing emblazoned on the door.

“It lookssss like you, Sssskales,” Skalidor noted.

“That’ssss impossssible!” Skales retorted, looking closer. He pushed aside a Constrictai soldier before shoving the Serpentine aside. “Get away, you imbecile!”

“Ssssorry!” The soldier uttered, but Skales did not hear him. Carefully, Skales pressed a sphere like bulge in the wall, causing the tunnel to shake as the door rose into the roof above.

Tentatively, Skales moved into the tunnel. “Sssscary...” He remarked, moving further in before pulling a lever he found at the side. Immediately, lights came on and illuminated the room the door had opened. “Sssspooky...”

With the last of the lights on, the Serpentine realized they were facing an entire army of stone soldiers, dusty and inanimate. Moving about them, the Serpentine gently tapped the soldiers, but nothing happened...

...until a single drop of Devourer venom, freed from a pocket in the ceiling, dripped onto the hat of a stone soldier. Soon, more drops fell onto the stone figures, and the eyes of each began to glow a sickening green. A few more seconds, and the warriors sprang to life, lifting their swords and crossbows.

“What? It’ssss a trap!” Skales hissed. “Attack!”

The Serpentine raced forward, swinging their weapons, but they merely bounced off the Stone Warriors, who continued to charge without stop. Even Venomari venom and Hypnobrai spells did not slow them, though the Serpentine tried both numerous times.

“Our powerssss have no effect on them!” Acidicus cried, scared. “Do we retreat?”

“No retreat!” Skales bellowed. “We are Serpentine; we fight!”

Despite a valiant effort by the Serpentine, the Stone Warriors were simply too powerful; each could easily defeat three Serpentine all at once, and their fighting skills were far superior to those of the Serpentine.

Ignoring the Serpentine left in the room, the Stone Warriors matched out into the tunnel, and the door began to close. “We’ll be trapped underground again!” Skales howled, terrified. “No, this can’t be true! Nooooooooooooooooooooo!”

His scream filled the tunnel, echoing for miles, but ultimately, every Serpentine was now trapped behind the stone door, with no way out.

Back to Ninjago City (SO MANY DAMN TRANSITIONS)...

The falcon soared over the city, taking in all the chaos before flying towards an alleyway. There, the ground broke as a Stone Warrior climbed up from underground, grinning and starting his own wave of destruction.

Zane, watching through the falcon’s eyes, opened his own. “Sensei, it’s as we feared. Another Stone Samurai Warrior is loose in the streets!”

Just as Zane finished his sentence, more Stone Warriors began to break through the streets from underground, and some came into view from alleyways. “We’re under attack!” Sensei Wu shouted, taking a fighting stance.

All over the city, the Stone Warriors began terrorizing citizens, chasing them and attacking the defenseless people. Everyone was attempting to flee, except for one reporter lady, who thought (wrongly) that her career was more important, even hiring Dareth, who’d been chased out of his dojo, as a spare camera man when hers ran off.

At least, until a Stone Warrior grabbed her from behind, resulting in a necessary rescue by Zane, with the other ninja soon arriving. A wave of Stone Warriors rushing towards them was, by pure luck, stopped as Sensei Wu, Misako, and Lloyd arrived in the Ninja Tank. “We have to protect the people! Gather as many as you can and get them to our evacuation point!” Sensei Wu mandated.

“We’ve got problems with that evacuation point, guys!” Nya said over comms from the Bounty’s control room. “We can’t find a safe place to land!”

“NGTV office building has a helipad on the roof,” The reporter offered.

“Yes, higher ground,” Sensei Wu agreed. “Lloyd, tell Nya to head there!”

The reporter woman quickly turned to her camera, relaying the evacuation point to anyone still watching a media device.

“Stay safe, and stay out of trouble,” Sensei Wu requested of Misako, who shrugged.

“Looks like that won’t be possible,” She reflected, noting the approaching Stone Warriors.

Lloyd grimaced as he saw Stone Warriors coming from behind the Ninja Tank. “Looks like there are more of them!” Thankfully, the Ultra-Dragon landed on the Stone Warriors, late but still very welcome to the fight. Unfortunately, though it was a formidable opponent, the Stone Warriors seemed unafraid, and began to charge against the dragon.

“Lloyd, did you practiced your elemental quake?” Sensei Wu questioned.

“Who needs to practice when you’re a natural?” Lloyd smirked, hopping out of the Ninja Tank and landing on the street, causing part to rise up into a slope. “Thanks, boy!” He called to the Ultra-Dragon, jumping on top of the Tank, where the other ninja had situated. “Now see if you can help us find a way out of here!”

In response, the Ultra-Dragon froze the Stone Warriors along with the ramp before flying out of the way, allowing for the Ninja Tank to race down the street. “Good, now save yourself!” Lloyd cried. The Ultra-Dragon gave another roar before soaring away to its’ nest high in the Ninjago mountains.

Back to the Dark Island...

Grunting, Lord Garmadon felt his hand touch a flat surface, and groaned in relief as he realized he had finally reached the top of the mountain. He managed to lift himself onto the plateau at the top, panting for breath before noticing a large mechanism before him. “What is this?” He asked, stunned.

The object in question was made up of several gears connected by rings, moving constantly. At the center of it was a large helmet not unlike Garmadon’s, only this one had a larger ornament than his. “This... is the Celestial Clock... it was created to count down to the final battle... once one takes the Helmet of Shadows, the clock will start.” Eagerly Lord Garmadon stepped forward to take the helmet, but the shadow interrupted his action. “But be warned... though he who wears the Helmet of Shadows can travel between the islands at will, once it is removed, the countdown cannot be stopped.”

“Any more warnings?!” Lord Garmadon asked, aggravated.

“No,” The shadow replied and Lord Garmadon stepped forward, smiling as he placed the Helmet of Shadows upon his head (which then somehow covered his old helmet, which would never be seen again). Lord Garmadon began to cackle as the shadow watched, pleased. “At last... the countdown to the final battle has begun. This helmet is your birthright! With it, you have control of the army!”

“What army?” Garmadon demanded.

“My army.”

Back in Ninjago City...

With citizens running from all corners to the NGTV office building, it was difficult for Zane to get there without hitting anyone, but he managed to park the Tank without injuries. Everyone was already rushing inside, and with the ninja there they closed to doors.

“Barricade the doors!” Cole shouted. Quickly, the doors were blocked by everything heavy in the nearby vicinity.

While others went up the stairs, Dareth scoffed. “Stairs? It’s twenty floors. Let’s just take the elevator, guys.”

“It’s not safe to use that in an emergency,” Lane retorted.

“Well, I think I’ll take my chances,” Dareth shrieked loudly as the elevator opened, revealing a Stone Warrior, who moved forward to attack, only to step in a bucket of water, slipping back into the elevator. Dareth promptly sent it down, grumbling, “Okay, stairs it is!”

Dareth served to cause further problems, since at one point he stopped and rested before he saw another Stone Warrior and started sprinting up the stairs again, knocking Misako and causing her to drop her scroll carrier.

“That guy is twelve accidents waiting to happen,” Alexia muttered, facepalming.

The Stone Warriors were close behind, and even as the last of the civilians exited the stairwell, a wave of Stone Warriors were only a few dozen steps down. “If we don’t stop them, we’re toast!” Moppet gulped.

“NINJAGO!” The ninja, unable to physically harm the soldiers, managed to throw them from the stairwell to the bottom, only for the Stone Warriors to resume climbing.

“Lighting up!” Lloyd called, concentrating his green aura into an energy blast and firing at a line of Stone Warriors. Though it only stunned them for a short time, Lloyd and Moppet were able to throw them down the stairwell during that period. “Not so tough!” The Stone Warriors who had been thrown promptly got up and waved their swords, and Lloyd groaned. “So tough!”

“Let’s hope we bought enough time,” Zane noted.

Outside, Nya had just arrived at the building, and everyone began boarding. “Hurry, they’re coming!” Lloyd cried, having come from inside with the other ninja.

“My research!” Misako shouted, realizing her scrolls were missing.

“No, mom, it’s too dangerous!” Lloyd argued, horrified. “Don’t go back!”

“It’s too important to leave behind,” Misako replied, kissing her son’s brow before running back into the office building, leaving Lloyd heartbroken.

“Lloyd, we’ve got to go!” Moppet grabbed his hand, leading him to the Bounty.

As all the civilians boarded the ship, Kai and Alexia directed them below deck. “Now! We’ve got to go now!” Kai shouted to his sister. Inside, Misako had spotted her scrolls, and slid down the stairwell banister.

Then, Stone Warriors emerged from the building, running towards the ship. “ _ Gottverdammt _ , they keep coming!” Alexia sighed.

With still more civilians going below deck, the Stone Warriors began attacking the side engines, and warning sirens went off in the control room. “Oh no, this is bad...” Nya started the engines for takeoff. “We have everyone, we’ve got to get out of here! The only remaining booster won’t last much longer.”

“We have to wait for my mom!” Lloyd insisted. At his words, Sensei Wu jumped off the ship to the building below, and as he ran towards the door, the Bounty began flying away. “UNCLE!” Lloyd shouted, near tears.

“Double back! Now!” Moppet shouted, running into the control room and taking the wheel from Nya.

Sensei Wu darted into the building as Misako slide down light fixtures, grabbing her research before slipping and grabbing onto a nearby stairwell ledge. The pair then found themselves cornered in an office, with Stone Warriors coming in full force.

“OUT HERE!” Lloyd shouted from outside, just below the window of the office. Sensei Wu and Misako quickly jumped, shattering the window before landing safely on the deck of the Bounty.

“Moppet! Take off,  _ NOW _ !” Lane ordered.

Moppet obliged, steering the ship away from the office building, leaving the once proud city in smoking ruins.


	41. HOLY SHIT WE'RE NOT DEAD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The writers come back to life, or rather the realization they haven't updated in over a year, and PANIC. The result? 13 pages in google docs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XenobladeWarrior1958: Ahem... so... it’s been... a bit? *crickets chirp*  
> do0m: A bit? I think you might need to use a... slightly stronger word?  
> XW1958: OKAY OKAY IT’S BEEN A YEAR. ACTUALLY A YEAR AND THREE MONTHS, LONGER SINCE A PROPER UPDATE.  
> do0m: There you go. Doesn’t honesty feel good. Anyway folks, I’m sorry -- this is all my fault really. Apparently while I did learn stuff in college, I allocated my points away from sleeping, and so have been somewhat unavailable due to relearning an essential skill. On the upside, I can do adult things now. Like taxes and stuff.  
> XW1958: Yeah... we understand it’s been almost a year and six months since the last update. WE KNOW. *sobs* I had junior year! DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW WHAT JUNIOR YEAR DOES TO YOU? Also... went through a couple rough periods, had a dick of an ex, am just now finishing up highschool, fixing my life and issues, and getting ready for college, so blame me too.  
> do0m: If you thought junior year was hard… Let’s just say hold onto your socks.  
> XW1958: I KNOW! *sobs into table* I’m already dreading my homework load and missing my friends and having to Skype for long-distance stuff and aaaaaaaaack. BUT that’s not why we’re here. HERE, ladies and gentlemen, is the update. The 13 page (in google docs) update YOU have been waiting for (or maybe not, maybe you guys have moved on and don’t care, we hope not though). do0m, if you would do the honors?  
> do0m: So, let’s see what threats to our lives have piled up in the meantime... None? Nothing? Jeez guys, I expected better.  
> XW1958: Well... we’re really gonna try and finish the story this summer. Really. Death threats really help. Please, WE NEED MOTIVATION. Also, for those on fanfiction: HAPPY DAY THE FAKE SITES ARE GONE (as far as I can tell).  
> do0m: *pops a celebration popper*  
> XW1958: So, stories will continue to be updated on fanfiction. Fear not, AO3 viewers; updates will be cross-posted there. Death threats on both will be treated accordingly, but in general, any death threats are welcomed. AND NOOOOOOOOW... *drumroll* ON WITH THE CHAPTER!!!

The refugee camp, while of considerable size, was quiet. People were inside their trailers, quivering in fear of an attack while the ninja were on the Bounty, watching over the camp. Now, however, there was a more pressing situation at hand.

“Most peculiar...” Looking out at the sea, Zane frowned. “Yesterday there was just ocean, but now there is an island.”

“The Dark Island, Zane,” Sensei Wu corrected. “And what I find more peculiar is after Ninjago City was attacked by the Stone Army, today they have vanished.”

“Do you think they are on this Dark Island?” Zane inquired. “Garmadon may be responsible!”

“I fear that too. But what’s most important, is we have to find out what’s on that island.”

Smiling, Zane raised his arm. “Perhaps my falcon can have a look.” The falcon tested its’ wings briefly for flight before launching itself from its’ perch on Zane’s arm and flying to the Dark Island.

Back at the ship, some of the others were trying to fix the ship, to little avail. Lane was in the engine room with Moppet and Alexia, trying to repair the damage while the male ninja worked on the outer thrusters, only for Jay to get squirted with gunk from some pipes. “Argh, useless pile of junk!” Jay muttered, throwing down his wrench.

“It’s worse than I thought,” Nya groaned. “The routers on the starboard booster are completely destroyed. The port boosters are shot from the strain. Sorry, guys, but she’s not getting airborne any time soon.”

“So if the Stone Army attacks again, we’re sitting ducks!” Cole grunted.

“We just got our tails handed to us, and we couldn’t even stop one of them! Ack, I hate feeling helpless,” Kai sighed.

“Actually, they’re probably not coming.” Alexia slid down from the deck. “They’ve had plenty of chances to attack, especially when we were first setting up. If they were looking to attack, it would have happened by now.” Nya looked at her with a questioning look, to which Alexia could only shrug. “Two of the engines are dead, we’d need new parts. The last one works, but it won’t be able to fuel flight; just be glad Lane changed it when she did, there are no gas stations around here.”

“We mustn't give up hope,” Sensei Wu reminded, having returned from his walk. 

“The Stone Army is indestructible! You saw it,” Lloyd countered. “At best, all my powers could do was slow them down.”

“That’s not entirely true. There is a way to defeat them, and it is told within the scrolls,” Misako explained.

In the control room...

Misako unrolled one of her many scrolls onto the table. “The prophecy reveals that the power to defeat the Stone Army lies within the Green Ninja,”

“I tried, I gave them everything I had!” Lloyd insisted.

“Yes, but you are stronger than you think,” Misako replied. “Look. The true power of the Green Ninja can only be unlocked when his protectors find their own pure elemental powers.”

“When you say elemental powers, do you mean more training?” Moppet asked, weary.

“Not exactly. I believe it refers to creating elemental weapons with which you can fight more effectively,” Misako corrected.

“If that’s true, how could we possibly win?” Lane demanded, narrowing her eyes at the ‘Dark Lord’. “The elemental weapons were wiped from existence due to the timeline realigning itself.” (By now the other inhabitants of the Bounty had been made aware of the entire escapade)

“But even now, you have begun to tap into your elemental powers,” Misako remarked. “And I believe there is a way to recreate your weapons; we must go to the Temple of Light.”

“Temple of Light? Where on Ninjago is that supposed to be?” Alexia questioned.

“The gold in the golden weapons was from the golden peaks, but they were forged in the Temple of Light.” Misako laid another scroll down on the table. “It is a powerful place I thought only existed in legend.”

“So, it’s on the Dark Island?” Moppet asked.

“I think our only option is to see if it is. No map of Ninjago has revealed its’ location, and being on the Dark Island would explain its’ inability to be found,” Misako answered.

“We get our weapons back? Alright!” Cole cheered.

“There’s still one big problem,” Nya interjected. “The Bounty can’t fly.”

“It’s a ship, right? Can’t it sail?” Misako pointed out.

About an hour later...

It wasn’t the easiest to move the Bounty from its’ place on the sand to the sea, but in the end the Bounty came to rest at an improvised dock. However, that wasn’t all that needed to happen; there were supplies to move on board, defenses to be built for the camp in case of an emergency, and, for some, goodbyes to be had for family.

Of course, some goodbyes were far funnier than others. Jay’s parents found the most awkward way to send their son off... by giving quick parental reminders, including about eating vegetables and proper hygiene . “Dad, help... please,” Jay muttered, but his father was powerless to stop his wife’s motherly tirade. Eventually, when they finished, Cole’s father came forward, embracing his son.

“I... don’t know what to say,” Cole’s father murmured, wishing he’d been more reasonable in the past with his son.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Cole assured him. Before his father could say anything else, a female teenager walked forward.

“Come back safe, you big lug,” She whispered, giving Cole a tight hug. Cole hugged back just as tightly, rubbing her back.

“Is that Cole’s sister?” Alexia asked Kai, who just shrugged. The girl heard Alexia, and turned, shaking her head.

“I’m Natasha... Cole’s girlfriend.”

About three seconds passed of acute silence before Lane, of all people, spoke up. “So... you’re dating him. You do know about his atrocious cooking skills?”

“Yeah. It’s why I never let him cook,” Natasha replied, ignoring Cole’s muttered, ‘I’m not that bad’.

“...Okay, anyone who accepts THAT about him must be his soulmate,” Lane announced, causing Cole to scowl and Natasha to smile happily and blush.

“I’m be fine, Nat,” Cole murmured to his girlfriend, kissing her forehead. “Stay safe, okay?”

The tender moment was ruined by Kai requesting that Dareth protect everyone while the ninja were gone, prompting Dareth to swear that with his ‘strength’ there was nothing to fear, not noticing Lloyd’s eyeroll and muttering of an impolite retort to Moppet, who giggled.

Zane stood on the Bounty, watching the happy farewells from afar. “Zane, are you alright?” Lane asked, concerned that he was standing alone. “Is there someone you want to say goodbye to?”

“My only family is my falcon, and my only memory of my father was nearly erased,” Zane said. “I will miss Ninjago, for it is all I know, but I am excited for what the future has in store.”

Lane smiled, taking his hand. “I’m excited too. And you’ve got more family than your falcon; Moppet would be happy to formally adopt you.” Zane couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought, especially since he calculated a 93.4% chance of Moppet doing exactly that if asked.

With the farewells finished, the ninja boarded the Bounty, waving goodbye as the ship set sail into uncharted water... just as Jay’s mother decided she hadn’t quite embarrassed her son enough (or was genuinely concerned, what’s the difference?) by asking if he’d packed enough underwear for the trip, causing her son to just groan and go inside while the others on board laughed.

That evening...

The majority of the ninja were up on the deck of the ship, watching the sun set over the water, creating a beautiful view as orange ran across the sky. “We still have far to go,” Sensei Wu observed.

To pass the time, Alexia had decided to try honing her water skills... by creating 3D models of whatever her friends could think of. “Make a cat!” Moppet suggested. Nodding, Alexia pulled water from the ocean and made a crude representation of Puss. “Um... make the statue of David!”

“...Mops, let’s keep it simple,” Alexia sighed, returning her water to the ocean. “That last one was hard enough, it’s draining to make these.”

“How about a baseball and bat?” Kai suggested, and with a bit of luck, Alexia created the two objects, though the effort was clearly straining her.

“Heh, watch this!” Lloyd quickly created a fireball and shot it across the ocean. “Easy as-” His words were quickly cut off as Alexia used her water baseball bat to knock her water baseball into Lloyd’s face.

“Might not be as easy, but way more satisfying,” Alexia smirked, earning a quick laugh from Kai and Cole, though Moppet just shook her head as she helped Lloyd up (the ball had managed to get a clean hit to his stomach, leading to him falling over).

***do0m: Although we understand there has already been an excess of cussing in this fic, please understand that Lane’s character does not allow her to use such language in any situation where anyone could hear, so plot convenience must now insert a foghorn despite none being in evidence*** *BRAAAP* A loud foghorn sounded from the vicinity of the control room, covering up a multilingual torrent of deeply rude words from Lane that would make many a sailor blush. Everyone glanced around worriedly; Lane and Zane were currently piloting the ship, so sudden loud noises often heralded explosions.

Moppet looked towards the control room with an impressed look. “Well, since there are no foghorns in at least 600 miles of here, I think it’s safe to say that Lane slipped up in her language, and the writers covered it up with a plot convenient excuse. Who’s turn is it to make sure Lane doesn’t cause a dimensional hole due to her sudden character change?”

Alexia groaned, “It’s mine. Dammit, last time I had to intervene, she threw a basketball at me.”

“So?” Interjected Lloyd, “She’s thrown WAY worse at me...”

“She doesn’t even own a basketball. In fact, I’m fairly sure she ripped a hole in space and time, took out the basketball, and then threw it at me just because she could.”

Inside the control room...

Lane stared at Zane, blinking rapidly. “What do you mean you were created to ‘protect those who cannot protect themselves'? What kind of pansy  ***Foghorn sound*** purpose is that? Who the hell thought that saddling you with something like that was a good idea?”

Zane shifted uncomfortably. “My father informed me of my purpose when he had already grown very old. I did not have the chance to discuss it with him. I’m sorry.”

Quickly shaking her head, Lane gave Zane a hug. “No, you’re not the problem, it’s just that - I only have to take care of Mopps, and she drives me half crazy trying to do that. What kind of sadist would saddle an incredible singularity like you with babysitting the whole world. They’re not even leaving you pizza money!”

“...He did leave me the falcon and a few other lessons.”

“Did he at least give you heavy ordinance so you can take on the big shots without being ground into gears?”

“...No.”

“Some sort of emergency-escape backup system?”

“Not that either, I believe.”

“Imma kill him.”

“He died many years ago...” Zane murmured somberly, bowing his head.

“Oh... I - I’m sorry… I just, I -” Lane stuttered, giving Zane another hug. “Leaving you with that kind of job, it’s unethical! I wouldn’t dump that much responsibility on an entire country, much less one person!”

“I suppose so. I would agree, it is a large task.” Zane looked to the deck outside, where the others were watching the horizon as the ship traveled steadily towards their destination. “But I have you and everyone else to assist me.”

The tender moment was broken by Alexia entering with a large sheet of metal to protect her from any and all sharp objects. “Okay, what are you going to pull out of your dimensional hole/pocket this time?”

Later...

The Bounty had been sailing for hours, evidenced by the fact that Ninjago was barely a speck on the horizon behind them; however, the Dark Island remained distant, visible, but many leagues ahead of them.

By this point, the tension on the ship had subsided, as everyone had settled in for the long haul and were trying to relax. The deck had, essentially, been converted into a sparring arena as the ninja tried to relieve stress… by beating each other up.

Lane and Alexia had just dealt a crushing defeat to Jay and Kai, as the four had decided to pair off into teams. This worked well for the girls, since their fighting styles complimented each other; Jay and Kai, less so, since they fought as if fighting alone. Such style left the girls to first mop the floor with Jay and then double team Kai, ensuring a complete victory for Lane and Alexia.

The boys had just gotten off the floor, minding their bruises, when Zane rushed out, panting for breath. “The falcon has contacted me from the Dark Island!”

Everyone quickly gathered in the control room, where Zane put on a weird set of goggles which projected the falcon’s vision on the control screen. “There. Is it working?”

“Yup. It’s even in HD quality, with 60 frames per second!” Lane geeked. When others raised their eyebrows, Lane shrugged. “As a prospective game designer, such things matter.”

The ninja watched as the falcon flew over the island, only to see the falcon presumably destroyed by a figure on the island. Zane was thrown backward, goggles flying off, leaving Lane to help him up while sobbing at the loss of the falcon. “...They’re  **all** going to die.”

“But they’re invinci-,” Lloyd began.

“They’re already dead,” Lane spat.

The extreme tension of the room was broken by the Bounty beginning to lurch. “For the love of-” Alexia muttered, struggling to remain upright. “What now?!”

Misako ran to the window before muttering a soft curse. “We’re sailing straight for a storm. All hands on deck!” She said grimly.

The ninja rushed onto the deck, finding that the mast was dangerously tilting. Lloyd climbed the mast quickly, tying a thick rope around the middle while the other male ninja tried to keep the mast from snapping. Lane and Nya remained in the control room, frantically trying to maintain the Bounty’s course.

“The wind’s too strong!” Lloyd cried, momentarily losing his grip on the rope.

Laughter was heard nearby, leading Moppet, who was working with Alexia to stabilize the mast with another rope, to groan. “Who’s idea of a joke is this?”

In the control room, Nya’s sentiment was similar. “Whoever’s getting a kick out of this really needs a reality check!”

Misako, having heard splats on the window, grimaced. “That’s not laughter. It’s Starteeth!”

“Why does it sound like the sea’s laughing at us?” Kai groaned.

“And why do I get the feeling we’re not getting the joke?” Jay asked.

As if to respond, starfish-like creatures latched onto the deck, their strange laughter continuing. “What the hell are those shitstacks?” Alexia grunted.

“It looks like... some kind of fish,” Cole remarked, picking one up to find suckers on the bottom full of teeth.

“We must not let the Starteeth onboard!” Misako warned, coming out from the control room. “They devour ships and they won’t stop until we sink!”

True to form, the Startooth Cole was holding promptly tried to bite him before joining its’ brothers in eating at the lines on the mast. After only a few moments, the ropes snapped, but that was the least of ninjas’ problems, since more Starteeth came onboard, munching at the ship.

“NINJA-GO!” In a flash, everyone on deck used their Spinjitzu to rid the floor of the tiny, annoying creatures. Unfortunately, the ones on the side of the ship were harder to reach, requiring several hours of work to get off. In fact, by the time the ship was Starteeth free, the damage had been done; a large hole had been created in the Bounty, and the rudder was in pieces.

The next morning...

Alexia grunted, channeling more water from the ship out of the hole. “I... did... not... sign... up... for... this...” She panted, exhausted from having spent most of the night getting water out of the ship. Kai, Zane, and Moppet were helping by using buckets, but even then the water remained, resulting in major problems.

“This is hopeless!” Kai muttered. “Without the rudder, we’ve been floating aimlessly.”

Moppet sighed. “I know Misako said we’d get to the Dark Island, but it’d be nice if she said when. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d love to get there before I turn thirty-five.”

The somber mood was broken by Zane, who suddenly dropped his bucket and looked out of the ship’s hole. “I... sense something.”

“Is it the falcon?” Moppet inquired, hopeful. “Is he alright?”

“No, it’s,” Zane’s eyes widened as an island came into view  _ right in front of the ship _ . “It’s something else! Brace yourselves!”

Sure enough, the Bounty hit the beach of the small isle, though thankfully the ship had avoided the rocks and incurred only minor damage. Said island barely had enough space for a beach and a tower, raising on rocks with a convenient staircase leading up to the front door. Everyone disembarked, since there was little chance of the ship getting even more damaged at this point.

“Who’d build a lighthouse way out here?” Lloyd questioned, confused.

“It’s not a lighthouse,” Zane corrected, walking up the steps leading to the tower. “It’s a prison.”

The stairs to the tower echoed with the sound of the sea and the creaking of the tower, putting the group on guard. At the top, by the door, was a security camera which surveilled the group. “Should we smile?” Jay asked, in a surprisingly successful attempt to break the tension.

After a few short moments, the door was unlocked and an old man came into view. “Zane! Is it really you?” He exclaimed, hugging the now shocked robot. “You’ve found me!”

“Uh, do you know him?” Lloyd asked, confused.

“Of course I know him!” The old man responded joyfully. “I built him, for heaven’s sake!”

Any further conversation was immediately halted as Lane (somehow) appeared at Zane’s side, furious. “You’re his father?! You’re a genius! How many PhDs have you been awarded? Do you have one in robotics? What about computer engineering? Ooh, maybe- wait, shouldn’t you be taller?” She asked, frowning as she quickly measured him with a tape measure she’d mysteriously pulled from who-knows-where. “I’d expect- WAIT A SECOND, MISTER,” Lane snorted. “You have a LOT of explaining to do! Number one being, HOW COULD YOU?!”

“Erm, I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Zane’s father began.

“Yes you do!” Lane huffed. “You  _ would _ be an incredible role model, but then you had to give the most incredible, spectacular, intelligent singularity that is Zane the absolute worst purpose in existence! Expecting him to protect everyone in the Gosh-Dang world at once all by himself? Do you KNOW how dumb humans are? How dare you saddle someone as nice as him with all the rest of us?”

“Oh,” Zane’s father sighed. “Yes, it was quite a blunder on my part; at the time, I’d been so focused on my goal that I completely disregarded the implications,” he turned to Zane, “I’m so sorry Zane.”

“AND ANOTHER THING- wait, you agree?!” Lane gasped, so astonished she dropped the pile of ethics textbooks she had planned to use as evidence. “Oh, excuse me...” She picked up the stack of seven university textbooks. “Well, this was quite... unexpected...” Lane admitted.

Sensing his father’s confusion, Zane explained, “Lane is one of my closest companions, and she was quite irate when she discovered the reason for my creation.”

“Hmm... I see…” Zane’s father turned to Lane, who was still befuddled by his easy admission of his most grievous mistake. “Perhaps for the sake of simplicity we should pretend that I, in fact, did not agree with you and you could continue with your argument elsewhere?”

“THAT WOULD BE APPRECIATED, YES, THANKS,” Lane declared, righting herself and marching into the lighthouse with a firm conviction. Zane’s father, amused, followed her as he ushered the others inside.

Four hours later...

Zane’s father entered the dining room where everyone else but Lane was gathered with a bright smile on his face. He turned to his son, beaming as he remarked, “Zane, you’ve chosen quite the partner! I am incredibly impressed with her research skills, as well as her citation style!” Zane lightly blushed at this comment. “Are you sure she’s not part android?”

This question was directed at Alexia, who shrugged. “Don’t worry. We’ve checked. She bleeds... normally.”

Lane entered, carrying a large stack of textbooks. “Well, I won this discussion! Victory is mine!”

“Didn’t Zane’s dad agree with you though?” Moppet asked.

“Sshhhhh! Let me enjoy this,” Lane sighed. Any further talk was quickly stalled as the island rumbled slightly, leading Zane’s father to pale.

“Everyone, hide! Quickly!” Zane father ushered everyone into closets, under tables, or generally just out of sight. He was not a moment too soon, as the moan of a creature was soon heard and a GIANT tentacle  **(plz no fanart)** appeared at the window. Eyes attached to tentacle cast their gaze on the room as Zane’s father nervously smiled at the creature. When it could not spot anything out of the ordinary, the tentacle returned to the sea, splashing against the waves.

“What was  _ that _ ?!” Jay asked.

“That, dear boy, is my warden; the Leviathan, a enormous monster chained to the bottom of the sea to ensure I could never escape,” Zane’s father explained. “Zane, there is a reason I am here instead of six feet underground.”

“It is true that I died, and that I turned off your memory switch. However, what you did not witness was Samukai reviving me with a special elixir. He wanted me to build him state-of-the- art machines, and when I refused...”

Zane’s father sighed. “He placed me on this island, and told me that if I ever wanted to see you again, I would build him what he requested. When Samukai never returned, I thought I would never see you... but after so much time has passed, I started to question if you would ever want to see me again. I was afraid it you found out about what horrible things I had created, you’d think I was... a monster.”

Immediately, Zane rose and embraced his father. “We will find a way to get you off this island, father,” He promised.

Lane, starry-eyed, sighed. “They’re getting along now! It’s so beautiful...” Everyone looked at her, confused until a loud squeak was heard. At that point, everyone turned to Alexia, who was holding Moppet by the collar.

“No, NO, this is NOT a hug for you!” Alexia scolded. “Go hug Lloyd.” In response, the green ninja ducked, his face beet red.

Amused, Zane’s father asked, “Erm, is this normal for you all?”

“Actually, this is quite calm,” Zane smiled. “Normally by this time of day, Alexia has chased something with her sword.”

“ONE TIME,” Alexia argued, still holding Moppet.

“You mean in the last week?” Kai reminded.

“TWO TIMES,”

“In the last month?” Nya added. Alexia grunted in response.

Still smiling, Zane turned to his father. “Perhaps we could fix the Bounty with your help.”

“Could you fix the rocket boosters on the ship?” Jay asked eagerly.

“That sailing ship has rocket boosters?!” Zane’s father asked, excited.

“Temperamental ones…” muttered Lane darkly.

“The rotors and gears are shot,” Nya warned gently.

“Pssh posh, I’ll have your ship ready for flight by dawn!” Zane’s father insisted. “We must hurry, however; if the Leviathan notices, it will be for naught.”

A short building montage later (that we’ll leave out for obvious reasons)...

Suffice to say, rest and dinner were  _ well earned _ that night. Everyone was completely exhausted, having spent a long day replacing necessary parts, reconfiguring, and, in Lane’s case, helping Zane’s father perform yet another massive overhaul of the engines (“This time -- this time I’m SURE they’re perfect!” She had declared).

While everyone else had gone to sleep after dinner, Zane and his father remained awake in the tower while Lane read Moppet her bedtime story. “I must say, I’ve never had such a meal in all my life!” Zane’s father declared as one of his small robots took away the plate of seconds he had just finished. “Where did you learn to cook? I never programmed that into you,” He remarked to Zane, who was cleaning up.

“I guess I just... picked it up,” Zane replied. “...Father, if I asked you to make a change in me, would you?”

“A change?” Zane’s father sat up straighter, confused.

“An... alteration,” Zane clarified.

“But Zane... you’re perfect! I could never make you any better than what you already are...” The pair ignored the shout, “HEAVY ORDINANCE FOR THE ANDROID!”

“Father, I see no purpose for me to have a memory switch. I... happen to like my life, and don’t want to ever forget you or anyone else ever again.” Zane moved to the window, staring out at the ocean. His father immediately rose and squeezed his son’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, my son. We will both never forget,” He promised. “I’m glad you found me, and that you found happiness along the way.”

Zane smiled, “I’m glad you made me.”

The tender moment, like most in the fanfiction, was almost instantly interrupted by something, this time being a large tremor  **(or perhaps the authors’ sadistic nature, who knows?)** . Zane’s father ran throughout the tower, knocking on each room’s door. “Quickly! We must leave now, or we will be unable to leave at all!”

The ninja had nearly boarded the now air-balloon Bounty when the Leviathan appeared. “It’s here!” Kai swore, picking up the pace.

Nya and Jay ran to the control room, where Jay frantically began start up procedures. “Get us out of here, Nya!”

“I hope she’s ready!” Nya responded, taking the wheel and pulling a lever. All of the Bounty’s boosters fired immediately, but just when the ship began to take off, the Leviathan wrapped its’ tentacles  **(NO HENTAI)** around the ship’s balloon.

“Lloyd! Your elemental powers!” Sensei Wu called. His nephew responded by throwing an energy blast at the Leviathan’s tentacles. The tentacles temporarily lost their grip but soon, with a vengeance, resumed its’ hold. However, such revealed the chain on one of its’ tentacles, sparking an idea in Zane’s head. Sparing no time, Zane climbed the railing and prepared to jump.

“Zane! What-” Dr. Julien’s question was swiftly interrupted as Lane came up next to him with a determined look on her face.

“ZANE IF YOU DON’T COME BACK I WILL PERSONALLY FISH YOU OUT OF THE OCEAN BY YOUR DRIVE TRAIN!” She shouted, already having a rough idea of what Zane planned (she, too, had seen the chain on the Leviathan’s tentacle and already came up with plans to help the poor monster). “TRUST ME, IT WILL BE MASSIVELY UNCOMFORTABLE!”

Nodding with a small smile, Zane dove into the ocean, swimming quickly to the Leviathan’s chain, grabbing two starteeth along the way. He set the pair on the chain, where they quickly got to work biting through the chain; just as the Leviathan had pulled the Bounty to sea level, the chain snapped, and the Leviathan released the Bounty.

“Wha- What happened?” Dr. Julien asked, looking over the side.

“Zane let the Leviathan go,” Lloyd said, understanding the creature’s actions. “It’s letting us go.”

Zane quickly reappeared at the other side where Lane caught him in a giant hug. “YOU STUPID ROBOT, YOU STUPID- STUPID,” She sobbed, holding Zane tightly. When Moppet attempted to join in  _ this _ hugging, Lane conveniently planted her foot firmly on the girl’s face to keep Zane to herself. Eventually, Lane allowed Dr. Julien to hug his son, but only after going on a short tirade about how ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous’ Zane’s actions had been.

“How did you know, if you freed the Leviathan from captivity, it would let us go?” Sensei Wu inquired.

Zane merely chuckled as he rubbed Lane’s back comfortingly, neglecting to point out her many ‘dangerous’ actions of the last forty chapters. “Because no one deserves to be held captive, not even a monster.” The Leviathan itself poked its’ tentacle with eyes above the waves, seemingly bidding farewell. Zane waved, and the creature swam off as the Bounty resumed its’ journey.


End file.
